OLDSMAR - Samuel Marin, who won last season’s Tampa Bay Downs jockeys title by riding 116 winners, received feelers during the summer about shifting his base of operations to the New York winter circuit.
    The interest from northern trainers and jockey agents came as no surprise. The 24-year-old from Venezuela followed his Oldsmar campaign by finishing second in the standings at Monmouth Park in New Jersey over the summer with 66 victories, including a meet-high nine stakes triumphs.
Marin was No. 1 at Monmouth in mount purse earnings with almost $21.9-million, bettering the track’s wins leader Paco Lopez.
    After discussing a possible move with his agent, former jockey Mike Moran, Marin spent about a week considering the pros and cons of competing in the Big Apple. “New York is the place where everyone wants to be, and a lot of the New York trainers helped me out at Monmouth. So for a little while, I thought I would do it.
“But we (he and Moran) did great here last year and I had a lot of fun. I get to compete against great riders, I get a lot of support from the horsemen and the Tampa fans are really cool. A lot of people are very positive with us, and it gives you a lot of confidence when you have that kind of backing.”
Make no mistake: If Marin’s career continues its ascent, he will one day graduate to New York, Kentucky or another more lucrative venue commensurate with his talents. But for now, Marin has no reservations about trying to become a back-to-back Tampa Bay Downs champ first.
Marin is a solid favorite to take home another trophy during the 100th anniversary season at Tampa Bay Downs, which celebrates Opening Day on Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:40 p.m. Admission is free and the forecast is for sunny skies, low humidity and temperatures reaching the low 80s.
For the first time, Tampa Bay Downs will employ drone technology throughout the meet to provide aerial views of the action for spectators and TV audiences. The drone shots will be displayed on the jumbo video board in the infield and televisions throughout the facility. 
On the wagering front, the track is introducing a takeout rate of 10 percent on all show wagers made on-track, including MBet (the takeout will remain unchanged at 17 percent on off-track show wagers). 
The 2025-26 stakes schedule begins Saturday, Dec. 6 with the $125,000 Inaugural Stakes for 2-year-olds and the $125,000 Sandpiper Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. Both races are contested at the 6-furlong distance.
The meet is laden with promotions marking the racetrack’s centennial celebration, including free admission each Wednesday. Handicappers and fans can register for the free “10 Days of Festivus Online Handicapping Contest,” which runs from Dec. 5 through Dec. 24, at www.tampabaydowns.com beginning Nov. 30.
Check the website for additional promotions.
Moran, the leading jockey here in 1978 when the track was called Florida Downs, is a master motivator, wasting no time dangling the proverbial carrot in front of his charge. With his other jockey, five-time Oldsmar champion and 2024-25 runner-up Samy Camacho, not eligible to ride here until Dec. 10 due to a riding-related suspension he elected to carry over from last season, Moran sees a possibility of Marin getting off to a quick start in the standings.
“He (Marin) already has a lot of good business. If we can get lucky and get him on the right horses, I think he could set the (single-season Tampa Bay Downs) record,” Moran said, referring to Antonio Gallardo’s mark of 147 winners in 2014-15. “(Marin) is strong, he’s smart, he’s good out of the gate and he does his homework.
“He knows where he is supposed to be during a race and is not afraid to use his horse to get that spot.”
There is no question Marin will face spirited competition from a veteran cast eager to school him in the sport’s ephemeral nature of success – no matter how nice a guy he may be.
Jockeys such as Camacho, who finished third in the Monmouth standings; Gallardo, himself a five-time Tampa Bay Downs champion who captured his sixth title at Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania this year; Daniel Centeno, a six-time wins leader at the Oldsmar oval; Pablo Morales, the Presque Isle Downs runner-up; Sonny Leon, who was fifth at Tampa Bay Downs and fourth at Monmouth; and even a relatively unknown up-and-comer such as Cipriano Gil or Israel Rodriguez should have something to say about things (and don’t be surprised the first time ageless Jose Ferrer beats Marin this season in a photo finish).
But the capable guidance of Moran, combined with Marin’s ability, enthusiasm and devotion to his profession, all point to another strong season for the youngster, who joined the ranks of graded-stakes winners during the summer with a pair of Grade III victories at Monmouth on 5-year-old Surface to Air.
“I’m 100-percent focused on what I want. This is my life,” Marin said. “Even when I get done riding for the day, I still want to keep riding.”
Moran says his rider’s singlemindedness is a major factor in his rise. “He pays attention to everything. He watches replays, he works hard in the morning and he wants to be the best he can be,” Moran said. “He’s going to do everything in his power to be leading rider again.”
While the saying “youth must be served” seems appropriate to Marin, the race for leading trainer will likely fall under the heading “experience is the best teacher.”
A veteran cast is headed by Kathleen O’Connell, No. 1 the last two seasons and a four-time champion overall, who first arrived at Florida Downs in 1976 to gallop horses. She began her own stable in 1981 and has saddled 2,597 winners, with nine graded stakes victories to her credit.
O’Connell shares at least two traits with Marin: She loves working with horses and she loves the atmosphere at Tampa Bay Downs. “K.O.,” who won the 2011 Tampa Bay Derby with Watch Me Go, is always on the lookout for another graded-stakes winner, yet entirely aware of what it takes to get a horse to that level.
“We’re looking forward to having a good meet, but it never gets easy. There are a lot of good trainers at Tampa. It’s always a tough meet and a competitive meet. Everyone knows how good the (dirt) surface is and how good the turf is, and when you get south Florida shippers from trainers like (Claude) McGaughey and (Chad) Brown, they come here loaded for bear.
“You just have to be lucky and have your horses stay healthy and you have to have the right races ‘go,’ ” said O’Connell, referring to races that most closely fit the abilities of horses in a trainer’s barn. “We have a bunch of useful horses and we’ll run them where they belong. It’s like playing poker – you have to know how to play the cards and when to play them.”
Simply, a trainer who yields to an owner’s whims too many times on which contests to enter stands little chance of winning a lot of races.
O’Connell won 53 races last season, 11 more than runner-up Juan Arriagada, who has won the last three Tampa Bay Downs owner titles and again is a contender in the trainer race. Others likely to be in the mix include nine-time champion Gerald Bennett, who finished third last season; Mike Dini; Juan Carlos Avila; Jon Arnett; and Chad Brown, who finished fifth last season with 26 winners while shipping his horses here from south Florida.
A familiar face returns to the Oldsmar training ranks in Tom Proctor, who last competed at Tampa Bay Downs during the 2022-23 meet. Proctor, who is perhaps best known for winning the 1994 Breeders’ Cup Distaff with One Dreamer, captured the Grade II Nassau Stakes at Woodbine in June with 5-year-old mare Ocean Club.
Win or lose, it’s Tampa Bay Downs, where O’Connell has enjoyed much success, made enduring  friendships and overcome occasional disappointments through her advocacy of the sport, and the horses under her care.
There is no place like home, and it is good to be back.
“I’m grateful for the opportunities the track and my owners here have presented me, and I’m looking forward to getting the season started. I have an amazing team that I can’t say enough about,” O’Connell said. “A lot of them are family members of people who have worked for me, and they love their jobs and are dedicated to the horses.”

    HALLANDALE BEACH - Don’t call it a comeback.

    Rajiv Maragh stepped away from racing a few years ago knowing he was leaving some unfinished business – such as riding his 2000th winner.

    After making a successful foray into the world of business, the highly accomplished 40-year-old jockey picked up where he left off a year ago at Gulfstream Park.

    “I didn’t technically retire. I stepped away from horseracing to pursue other ventures – to diversify myself outside of horseracing,” said Maragh, who is just four wins away from No. 2000. “My career surpassed my wildest imagination – a career that I’m very grateful for. Since I was a youth, I was devoted only to horseracing, nothing outside of horseracing. It came to a point when I was getting close to my 40s. I wanted to go outside of horseracing.”

    Maragh built Road Jockey, a food delivery service, from the ground up in his native Jamaica, and only returned to riding when his business venture was fully established.

      “I committed two years to building Road Jockey and learning business. I had to completely knock off horseracing. I had to really disconnect. That way I could be fully focused,” he said. “It was bittersweet because I was winning a lot of races. It was a tough decision to make to step away from something that was going so well. But I always felt that that was the time to do it. I can’t wait too late. I can always come back to it.”

    Unfortunately, Road Jockey, which had signed on 5000 customers and 30,000 partner merchants, is not currently operating due to the devastation Hurricane Melissa left behind after ravaging Jamaica late last month.

    “My family is on the east coast (of Jamaica), most of my family and friends, so they were fortunate not to get the blunt force of it,” said Maragh, noting some partners and friends in Montego Bay, where Road Jockey was operating before a direct hit from the hurricane, were not as fortunate. “Right now, the focus is on the people there that were affected by the hurricane. The business is secondary at this point. It would be selfish to even think about that. “

TV Analysis Work ‘Started Tickling My Brain’

    Maragh had no immediate plans to return to race-riding when he vacationed in Saratoga with his family a few years ago.

    “I love Saratoga. I always want to be there. I hadn’t been there in a couple of years. I decided to go and visit with my family. During that time, I went on for one segment of the NYRA show on Fox. The producers liked how I performed,” Maragh said. “They said, ‘Hey, look, there’s an opportunity to do some stuff.’ At that time, riding wasn’t on my radar at all. I didn’t have the riding juices going. Horseracing was still an obsession of mine. That’s why I went there, but it wasn’t for riding."

    “Doing the show for a year, it started tickling my brain. When I was riding, I wasn’t able to assess my riding. I think there were some holes I could have filled if I was able to step away and see it from a third person. That’s what the TV gave me,” he added. “I was able to watch the jockeys, the greatest jockeys in the world. It really hit me: I had a stellar career. I had a lot of opportunities. I felt like if I came back to riding, I would be the best version of myself. I wanted to explore that.”

    When he decided the time was right to continue his riding career, Maragh opted to stay close to home, his wife Angelina, son Luka, 5, and daughter Lilah, 1, instead of returning to the New York circuit on which he experienced so many career highlights.

    “I feel like I’m the best version of myself as a jockey. I might not be in the limelight like when I was winning a lot of races at the top circuit. But this version of me is the optimal version,” he said. “I continue to work and try to plug in any holes. I’m so much better at assessing my mistakes, so it’s easier to correct them. My self-assessment is way better now than it was when I was winning the most races of my life.”

    After riding nine winners during the 2024-2025 Championship Meet, Maragh rode 38 winners during the Royal Palm Meet and has added 10 more winners during the current Sunshine Meet after notching a double last Saturday. Maragh reacquainted himself with the Gulfstream Park winner’s circle Dec. 5 on his eighth mount back, Dundie, a horse trained by his father Collin.

    “When I won my first race after this break, it was a collage of emotions that hit me after the race. The journey – the ups and downs…,” Maragh said.

    “We don’t have a career. We have a lifestyle,” he added. “That lifestyle is challenging. You make sacrifices to live that lifestyle. It’s rewarding and validating when you get the win.”

    Maragh recorded his first career win at Tampa Bay Downs Feb. 1, 2004 aboard Pricedale Kid, who captured a seven-furlong $7500 claiming race by 6 ¾ lengths.

    “I remember my first win like it was yesterday. It was on my ninth mount. I was in Tampa and I wasn’t the jockey listed to ride. In the morning, the rider who was supposed to ride didn’t show up. He was an apprentice, so I asked, ‘Please, let me ride this horse.’ He was a ripe candidate,” Maragh recalled. “Sure enough, I got the opportunity to ride him for Jesus Chavez, the trainer, and won my first race on him. Two weeks later, I won my second race on him. So, my first two wins were on Pricedale Kid.”

    Maragh would go on to ride many bigger names in many bigger races during his career.

Main Sequence ‘The Most Phenomenal Horse’

    Maragh has won 25 Grade 1 stakes, including Main Sequence’s 2014 triumphs in the United Nations, Sword Dancer and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic during the Graham Motion trainee’s Eclipse Award-winning season.

    “Main Sequence was one of the most phenomenal horses I’ve ever ridden or seen run,” Maragh said. “He had an amazing turn of foot. The first time riding him he won a Grade 1. It was surreal. It was his first time in America. Graham Motion was always high on the horse’s ability.

    “I won three big races in a row leading up to the Breeders’ Cup and I broke my arm and ended up missing out on the Breeders’ Cup. That was a tough moment for me,” Maragh added. “But they somehow made me feel like a part of it – Graham Motion, the owner, Flaxman, and even Johnny V [Velazquez], who picked up the mount.”

    Maragh reunited with Main Sequence directly following his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1) at Santa Anita with Hall of Famer John Velazquez aboard, winning the 2015 Mac Diarmida (G2) at Gulfstream Park.

    No graded stakes-winner is closer to his heart, however, than Lilah, after whom he and his wife named their daughter.

    “She’s named after my first graded stakes-winner when I was an apprentice,” Maragh said. “My wife and I have been together for 20 years. We had just met when I was an apprentice and was riding Lilah. We said that if we had a daughter, we’d call her ‘Lilah.’”

    Hobeau Farm’s Lilah, who was trained by the late Hall of Famer Allen Jerkens, won the 2005 Hurricane Bertie by three lengths. Nine years later, Maragh would return to the Gulfstream winner’s circle following the Hurricane Bertie aboard Groupie Doll, who closed out her brilliant career with a seven-length victory. Maragh also rode the modestly bred daughter of Bowman’s Band for back-to-back victories in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita in 2012 and 2013 that earned the Buff Bradley-trained mare back-to-back Eclipse Awards as Champion Female Sprinter. She sold at auction for $3 million following her second Breeders’ Cup win.

    “The story with her was amazing. It was a true underdog story – a homebred from unsuccessful lineage; Buff Bradley, not the biggest mainstream trainer at the time; and myself, a kid from Jamaica trying to make it in the big game,” Maragh said.

    Before riding Groupie Doll to back-to-back Filly & Mare Sprint wins, Maragh broke through at the 2011 Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs aboard Caleb’s Posse in the Dirt Mile (G1).

    “My first Breeders’ Cup win on Caleb’s Posse was actually a relief because I had put so much pressure on myself to win a Breeders’ Cup. I had some great opportunities before that and it never materialized. I had seconds and thirds,” Maragh said. “He just ran an unbelievable race. When I crossed the wire, it was relief.”

    Maragh would like to return to Thoroughbred Racing’s biggest stage, but he is currently content to staying close to home and family while renewing his love for riding at Gulfstream Park.

    “I know what I want. I want to be the jockey riding the biggest races in the world, all of them. That’s my ultimate goal, but the challenge is what it takes to be there,” Maragh said. “Today, I’m not able to commit to that. That goal right now I can’t focus on. It’s not realistic.”