Camila Hargrove was all smiles after making her career riding debut Saturday in Keeneland’s first race aboard Gayla Rankin’s Stuck On You. The two finished seventh in a field of 11 older fillies and mares racing 5½ furlongs on dirt for trainer Wesley Ward.

“It was awesome,” Hargrove said about the experience. “It happened so quickly. We came out of the gate, and I tried to get to the front and do the best I could. I can’t wait to do it again.”

Hargrove, 22, was born in Brussels, Germany. Her family moved to the U.S., and she lived in Virginia and Florida. She grew up riding horses and did barn chores to pay for riding lessons.

“I never thought I’d be doing this,” she said about riding racehorses. “I graduated high school, and Googled “What can little people do?” and a jockey came up.”

After high school, Hargrove attended Lexington’s North American Racing Academy, founded by Racing Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron to instruct aspiring jockeys. She was unable to finish the program, however, after sustaining an injury that required surgery. Hargrove then went to Florida to rebuild her strength working with young horses for trainer Niall Brennan. He put her in contact with trainer Shug McGaughey, and she moved to New York to spend 1½ years as a McGaughey exercise rider.

Hargrove and Ward met one winter at Payson Park training center in Florida, and Ward approached her about becoming a freelance rider for him. After finishing her work with McGaughey, she joined Ward’s team at Keeneland a little more than a week ago, which led her to her mount yesterday.

“He’s just trying to help me get started, and I’m very grateful for it,” she said about Ward, a former jockey who won the 1984 Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice and oversees a training operation based here. Ward is the Spring Meet’s leading trainer with six wins.

Hargrove is overjoyed to begin her riding career at Keeneland. (Her first name on her official record is “Camile.”)

“To have had my first ride here at Keeneland, I would have never even imagined,” she said. “This is great, and I’m so grateful to be here and to be a part of all of this.”

On Sunday, Hargrove had her second opportunity to ride in a race. In Race 1, she finished third aboard Starry Night Racing’s first-time starter Trotter for trainer Kent Sweezey.