Jockey Rajiv Maragh, who suffered multiple broken vertebrae, a broken rib and a punctured lung in an accident at Belmont Park July 10, 2015, guided Repole Stable's 4-5 favorite Bass River Road (Noonmark) to a 3/4-length victory (video) for trainer Jeremiah Englehart in Wednesday's second race at Aqueduct, his first win in 26 mounts since returning to the saddle at the Big A Nov. 4.
“It's such an amazing feeling. I'm overcome with emotion because it took such a long time to get here. It's really special,” the popular jockey commented. “I'm just thankful that people still give me opportunities. That's the hardest part. I'm lucky I have good people who always stood behind me throughout the years. [Owner] Mike Repole is one of them. He's given me so much support. To have confidence in me coming off such a long stint, it means a lot to have the opportunity to ride these horses.
He added, “There were a lot of low points where you feel it's not going to happen. When you have people reaching out to you and encouraging you to come back, it helps to motivate you. When times seemed gloomy, everyone around me helped me get here.”
Despite the skid, which saw him finish second six times and third on three further occasions, Maragh says he never wavered in his resolve.
“I never really lost confidence [after not winning his first 25 races since returning],” he offered. “Win or lose, I tried to stick to my fundamentals. But it always helps to win. You always get more confidence as you go and win races.”
A 31-year-old native of Jamaica, Maragh has ridden 1,673 winners to date, according to Equibase statistics, and has four Breeders' Cup victories to his credit, including back-to-back wins in the GI Filly & Mare Sprint aboard Groupie Doll (Bowman's Band). Maragh rode Main Sequence (Aldebaran) to wins in each of his first three starts in the United States in 2014, but suffered a broken arm in a spill in that year's GI Jockey Club Gold Cup. With John Velazquez substituting, Main Sequence added the GI Breeders' Cup Turf en route to being named champion grass horse and champion older horse that season.
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