Rajiv Maragh (born July 9, 1985, in

Spanish Town Spanish Town ( jam, label=Jamaican Creole, Panish Tong) is the capital and the largest town in the parish of St. Catherine in the historic county of Middlesex, Jamaica. It was the Spanish and British capital of Jamaica from 1534 until 1872. Th ...

, Jamaica) is a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

. An

Indo-Jamaican Indo-Jamaicans are the descendants of people who came from the Indian subcontinent to Jamaica. Indians form the third largest ethnic group in Jamaica after Africans and Multiracials. History Due to deteriorating socioeconomic of conditions in B ...

, he is the son of a jockey who rode in Jamaica before relocating to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

where he began a career as a

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

. Rajiv Maragh rode his first winner at

Tampa Bay Downs Tampa Bay Downs is an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility located in Westchase in Hillsborough County in the U.S. state of Florida, just outside Tampa. It opened in 1926 under the name Tampa Downs, and has also been known as Sunshine P ...

on February 1, 2003. He got his big break in 2008 when he was 14th in the national earnings list. Rapidly developing into a top jockey since moving north to compete at NYRA tracks, in 2009 he has been a winner of several

Grade 1 First grade (also called Grade One, called ''Year 2'' in England or Primary 2 in Scotland) is the first grade in elementary school and the first school year after kindergarten. Children are usually 6–7 years old in this grade. Examples by re ...

races. He was seriously injured in a spill at Belmont Park in July 2015 and has been cleared in November 2016 to start riding again. He rode Mucho Macho Man to a 3rd-place finish at the

2011 Kentucky Derby The 2011 Kentucky Derby was the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby, on May 7. The race was won by Animal Kingdom, ridden by John Velazquez, trained by H. Graham Motion and owned by Team Valor. "ESPN Animal Kingdom wins 137th Derby" ESPN.g ...

. He rode his first Breeder's Cup winner on Caleb's Posse in the dirt mile. In 2017 he relocated to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and the same year was honored with Comeback Jockey Of The Year Award.

Year-end charts

References

External links

*
Rajiv Maragh at the NTRA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maragh, Rajiv 1985 births Living people American jockeys Jamaican emigrants to the United States Jamaican jockeys Jamaican people of Indian descent People from Spanish Town