Apprentice jockey Camila Hargrove picked up her first career win with Bye for Now on Wednesday at Finger Lakes and doubled her tally on Thursday by winning a stretch duel aboard Essence L Vee, at Saratoga Race Course.

The 25-year-old native of Brussels, Belgium returned to the saddle for the first time since April 2024 on August 6 here when she guided the Ray Handal-trained Bye for Now to an off-the-board effort in a seven-furlong maiden claiming sprint. Just 13 days later, Hargrove piloted the 3-year-old Tapiture gelding to a frontrunning maiden claiming score traveling 5 1/2-furlongs versus elders in Farmington, N.Y.

“At Finger Lakes, it was a shorter race, and we knew we’d have a better shot. I knew we had to break sharp and keep him going,” Hargrove said. “He broke a little slower than I would have liked, but we kept him up there and he finished up for me. It was an amazing experience.”

In Thursday’s opening race, which scratched down to three horses, Hargrove rode the Mark Hennig-trained Essence L Vee from post 2 in the one-mile maiden claimer out of the Wilson Chute. Although off a step slow, Hargrove recognized the slow early tempo of 25.43 set by Spirit Forward and advanced up the rail to contest the pace, putting a head in front at the stretch call. Ready Rosie Jane loomed large on the outside under Katie Davis and the two foes battled to the wire with Essence L Vee prevailing by a head.

Hargrove said the final 70 yards was a learning experience as she struggled briefly to switch her crop from her right hand to her left hand while brushing against her fellow rider in a thrilling finish.

“Katie really fought me for that one,” Hargrove said. “I had a little technical difficulty with the whip there. I saw her coming up on my outside and we just went for it. I was really happy about it. My face hurts from smiling so much.”

The 10-pound apprentice is represented by agent Jose Santos, Jr.

“She’s been working horses all summer trying to get the right opportunities and this week it worked out,” Santos, Jr. said. “It’s never easy to win here and fortunately, it all came together. I thought she rode a really smart race, and she rode all the way through the wire.

“She has a really strong base when she rides,” Santos, Jr. added. “She sits very well on a horse. She has great hands. There’s a lot of learning to do from here to there, but she’s determined and works very hard.”

Hargrove has come a long way from her well-traveled upbringing.

“My father’s American and my mother is Argentinian. I was born in Brussels, and I lived there until I was nine-years-old,” Hargrove said. “Riding has always been a part of my life on and off. I always had an interest in horses and was lucky enough to have a family that supported it. I used to muck stalls to pay for lessons growing up in Brussels.”

The 4’11″ rider acknowledged she found racing a little later than most in the business.

“I didn’t even know racing was a thing until about six years ago. I graduated high school, and I Googled, ‘what can little people do’ and jockey came up,” Hargrove said, with a laugh. “I thought, ‘well, I love horses so let’s give it a go.’ I found the jockey school in Lexington, Kentucky – it’s the BCTC Equine Program now, which used to be the Chris McCarron school.”

Hargrove found her first job at the track in 2022 with Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. She finished seventh with her first mount, Stuck On You, for trainer Wesley Ward on April 13, 2024, at Keeneland and landed third one day later with her next try on the Kent Sweezey-trained Trotter there.

“Wesley Ward spotted me in winter 2023 and wanted me to ride but I didn’t feel ready yet. I’d been on the track for five minutes,” Hargrove said. “I took more time and galloped for a year and half and he gave me my first mount in the spring of 2024. I hit the board with Sweezey’s horse and then I rode my third mount, and they gave me my license, and I said, ‘Let’s stop, now I know what I need to work on. I need to practice and get fitter.’”

In September 2024, her riding career came to an abrupt stop.

“I had a bad fall breaking babies and I tore my ACL, MCL and they had to do a full reconstruction of my left knee,” Hargrove said.

Hargrove worked her way back to fitness and last year started riding regularly in the morning for Handal, including galloping the stakes-winning New York-bred mare Valtellina, who won Race 6 on Thursday here with Dylan Davis aboard.

“Special rider. She has a tremendous future. She works really hard,” Handal said. “She’s put in a lot of work. She came to me and hadn’t even ridden a horse in a year. I just liked her mindset and her work ethic. She seemed determined to get back.

“She’s been really selfless with the team,” Handal continued. “I see a lot of potential in her. I’m very proud of her getting her first win here. We got her first win at Finger Lakes the other day, first of many. I’m excited for her.”

Handal said Hargrove is learning each and every day and growing in confidence as a rider.

“She’s very receptive to everything. She takes criticism well. She does all the things that she’s supposed to do,” Handal said. “The things she doesn’t do well, the only way you get better at it is through reps and riding in races.

“It’s really encouraging to see her already have a good racing I.Q.,” Handal added. “She identified a slow pace [Thursday] and made a move. She saw the potential to come up the rail – they went in 25 and four. Just to have that natural instinct is huge and reminiscent of some of those bigger guys when they come along in this division. As long as you can identify pace and do all the early things well in races, the riding and finishing will come. I have a lot of faith in her.”

And Hargrove has a lot of faith in herself, following a mantra tattooed near her collarbone that reads, ‘per aspera ad astra,’ a classic Latin phrase that translates to, ‘through hardships to the stars.’

“I got that tattoo after surgery for an elbow injury,” Hargrove explained. “It’s been nothing but progress and setback and progress. It’s up and down and you just have to be really grateful for the moments when you’re up and not let the bad times knock you down too low.”