For jockey Martina Rojas, the 2025 racing season was filled with tremendous highs, and a few lows, but as the year drew to a close, the 21-year-old’s 53 wins from 438 mounts placed her second among women riders for the year, an impressive feat for the young rider. From Penn National Racecourse to Presque Isle Downs, from Laurel Park to Tampa Bay Downs, she has been steadily rising up the ranks of the top riders, and there’s no stopping this truly inspiring woman.
“I was excited to see the standings!” Martina said. “I’m really happy and very pleased with everything I’ve accomplished this year!”
“When I first saw the list, I knew I was going to be first or second, and was hoping to be first,” she said. “But I had a couple setbacks going into the year though. I was hurt at the beginning of last year, going into 2025, and then had another injury coming back which shut me off to just about when Presque Isle was starting. So I knew I had a lot of work to get done to place second on the standings.”
One memorable moment in 2025 for this strong and passionate woman was her first stakes win, which was special not only because of that milestone, but because the two-year-old, Live Stream, is trained by her father, Eduardo Rojas. The gelding won the $100,000 Fitz Dixon Jr. Juvenile at Presque Isle Downs on September 20.
“It was a great experience!” she said. “Going into the race, we had high hopes for him, he was such a great two-year-old. We went to the sale and picked him out ourselves, so he kind of was like a pet to us. He was like our family! It was a big ordeal! Going to the race we were all very nervous and very stressed, but we knew that he would try hard. We all make a great team, between my mom, my dad, and me and everybody that puts it together. We just collaborate so well and the horses do appreciate it.”
Both of her parents, Eduardo and Murray, are trainers, and her dad was an ex-rider. The family is extremely close, with both parents highly supportive of Martina and her career. Who is her biggest cheerleader? “My mom and my dad both. It depends. My dad is more of my coach than anything, and my mom is like my cheerleader. But I’ve learned a lot from my dad, since he was a rider, and he pushes me harder than most people, that’s for sure. He wants me to do good and do right.”
Martina worked extremely hard to get back to riding after an injury sidelined her, but she refused to give up. “Coming back from the injury in 2024 to 2025 (concussion, broken nose, an injury to her neck), it was tough. A tough year. I was out from September of 2024 until February of 2025, and it was very hard for me. It was a long process and a lot of rehab. It was more mental than most because when you’re at home, and down, it’s tough to get back up. And I was thinking about retiring, but I pushed through it. Started getting back on horses and just seeing how I felt overall and that’s how I got back.”
“But going after that, when I restarted back and got my eye injury, and was out until the Presque Isle meet, that was difficult, too, just coming back off an injury and getting reinjured, it was crazy,” she admitted.
The number of women riders racing at tracks all across the country continues to grow. “I think all the past big female riders like Rosie Napravnik and Julie Krone, they really were an eye-opener for women in racing. They proved a lot, like when Rosie won the Kentucky Oaks with trainer Steve Asmussen’s horse Untapable, it was a huge eye-opener. A lot of women are just starting to see it. More women riders are coming around and getting support from people in racing, or just supporters of racing. It does make a difference in the business. We’re in a man-dominant sport, and for a woman to come in, it’s hard. But it’s not impossible! And I think women are just starting to see that.”This year, she has her goal firmly in focus. “I’m hoping to lead the women’s standings!” she laughed. “I’m probably going to go back to Laurel, ride Presque Isle, and just see how my year goes. We’re pushing for a graded stakes win this year, so we will see where everything takes me, hopefully be 1-2-3 in the standings at Presque Isle. I want a safe riding year, and for everything to go well. Hopefully, topping the standings for women riders by 2027.”
For now, she will psych herself out for each and every ride with her own special ‘pregame’ and get out there and do her best. “I always have a water and a Coke in my box, and I always drink my soda first, then my water, I listen to a song, I say my prayer and do my blessings, and then I go out. By then, I feel like I’m ready!”
Martina Rojas
Career Stats
Starts 1521
Firsts 195
Seconds 208
Thirds 207
Total Earnings $4,680,042
Cover Photo Credit to Coady Photo
January 26, 2026
