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Courtesy Gulfstream Park
The promise of Christmas spent with his family is luring jockey Rajiv Maragh to South Florida for the holidays, but the purpose of his 10-day stay won’t be entirely familial.
The native of Jamaica intends to ride at Gulfstream Park during Aqueduct’s holiday break, which runs Dec. 19-28.
Maragh, 31, returned to the saddle Nov. 4 following a serious spill at Belmont Park in July 2015. The accident left him with several broken vertebrae, a broken rib, and a punctured lung, and required extensive and often painful rehabilitation.
During his comeback, Maragh has been riding regularly at Aqueduct, where he notched his first win since before the accident aboard Bass River Road Nov. 23. He subsequently rode multiple winners on different cards, including a four-win day Dec. 10. After Wednesday’s races at Aqueduct, Maragh was second in the standings at the young inner-track meet with seven winners to Jose Ortiz’ nine.
“It’s nice to stay in the groove, and I already had a 16-month vacation, so I don’t really care for more vacation right now,” Maragh said of his decision to ride at Gulfstream over his Christmas break.
A winner of more than 1,600 career races, Maragh will make New York his home base this winter but will journey south to ride when the right opportunities present themselves.
Gulfstream has provided Maragh with fond memories. It was here that the rider won his 1,000th career race in February 2010. In January 2015, Gulfstream was the site of his first win back following a few months off to recover from a broken arm he sustained in a racing accident at Belmont the previous fall.
With 2015 being the last time that Maragh competed at Gulfstream Park, the rider said his return is a cause for celebration for his family, the majority of whom live in South Florida.
“It’s a great thing for me to spend my holidays with my family and for them to be with me,” said Maragh who noted his uncles, Aubrey and Allen, are expected to provide him with mounts while he is in Florida. “Many of them haven’t seen me ride in person in a long while and they are excited for the chance, and so I’m I. This should make for a very nice Christmas.”
During Maragh’s South Florida stay, agent Walter Blum Jr. will be handling his mounts, as his New York-based agent, Tony Micallef, will be spending the holidays with his family in Canada.
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The promise of Christmas spent with his family is luring jockey Rajiv Maragh to South Florida for the holidays, but the purpose of his 10-day stay won’t be entirely familial.
The native of Jamaica intends to ride at Gulfstream Park during Aqueduct’s holiday break, which runs Dec. 19-28.
Maragh, 31, returned to the saddle Nov. 4 following a serious spill at Belmont Park in July 2015. The accident left him with several broken vertebrae, a broken rib, and a punctured lung, and required extensive and often painful rehabilitation.
During his comeback, Maragh has been riding regularly at Aqueduct, where he notched his first win since before the accident aboard Bass River Road Nov. 23. He subsequently rode multiple winners on different cards, including a four-win day Dec. 10. After Wednesday’s races at Aqueduct, Maragh was second in the standings at the young inner-track meet with seven winners to Jose Ortiz’ nine.
“It’s nice to stay in the groove, and I already had a 16-month vacation, so I don’t really care for more vacation right now,” Maragh said of his decision to ride at Gulfstream over his Christmas break.
A winner of more than 1,600 career races, Maragh will make New York his home base this winter but will journey south to ride when the right opportunities present themselves.
Gulfstream has provided Maragh with fond memories. It was here that the rider won his 1,000th career race in February 2010. In January 2015, Gulfstream was the site of his first win back following a few months off to recover from a broken arm he sustained in a racing accident at Belmont the previous fall.
With 2015 being the last time that Maragh competed at Gulfstream Park, the rider said his return is a cause for celebration for his family, the majority of whom live in South Florida.
“It’s a great thing for me to spend my holidays with my family and for them to be with me,” said Maragh who noted his uncles, Aubrey and Allen, are expected to provide him with mounts while he is in Florida. “Many of them haven’t seen me ride in person in a long while and they are excited for the chance, and so I’m I. This should make for a very nice Christmas.”
During Maragh’s South Florida stay, agent Walter Blum Jr. will be handling his mounts, as his New York-based agent, Tony Micallef, will be spending the holidays with his family in Canada.
Continue reading...