Maragh lands triple

ELMONT, New York (CMC):

Rajiv Maragh opened the fall season of racing at Belmont Park with a treble on Saturday's 10-race card.

Maragh got into the frame early, with a comfortable five-length victory in the US $$45,000 second race over 1,200 metres on the inner turf aboard the 4-1 chance Atlantic Voyage.

The 25-year-old jockey lightly urged the two-year-old, chestnut filly to take charge after the start and she set all the fractions to get under the wire in one minute, 09.05 seconds.

Maragh then added the US $39,000 sixth race going 1,600m on the main turf course with the 3-1 bet

Sky Blue Pink, which won by a neck.

He kept the three-year-old, chestnut colt at a reserved pace along the inside route, and then angled him three-wide into the lane to commence the drive for the line.

They closed on the leader inside the straight, drawing abreast at the 16th pole before proving best a couple of jumps prior to the end to clock one min, 35.17 seconds.

Maragh corked a fine day with a another narrow victory, in a time of 1:11.54 astride the 8-1 shot, Port Royal, in the US $18,000 eighth race over 1,200m on the dirt.

Traffic congestion hampered Maragh and the six-year-old, chestnut ridgling in the middle of the race, but they got clear before reaching the quarter pole, and took the leader out at the sixteenth pole to edge away to win by a neck.