Linda L. Rice

Last updated
Linda Rice
Occupation Trainer
BornMarch 7, 1964
Racine, Wisconsin
Career wins2,409 (as of December 31, 2023) [1]
Major racing wins
Miss Woodford Stakes (1988)
Bernard Baruch Handicap (1991)
Dixie Stakes (1991)
Holy Bull Stakes (1991)
Red Bank Stakes (1991)
Robert F. Carey Memorial Handicap
(1992, 2005)
My Dear Stakes (1995)
Tremont Stakes (1995, 2000)
Remsen Stakes (1996)
Athenia Stakes (1997)
Victoria Stakes (1997)
Adirondack Stakes (1998)
Lake Placid Stakes (1998)
Lamplighter Handicap (1998)
Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (1998 )
Spinaway Stakes (1998)
Woodford Stakes (1998)
Cowdin Stakes (1999)
Federico Tesio Stakes (1999, 2014)
Jimmy Durante Stakes (1999)
Hopeful Stakes (2000)
Sanford Stakes (2000)
Saratoga Special Stakes (2000)
Amsterdam Stakes (2001)
Bison City Stakes (2001)
Chick Lang Stakes (2001)
Royal North Stakes (2002)
Appalachian Stakes(2004)
Belmont Oaks (2004 )
Bourbon Stakes (2005)
Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (2014)
Broadway Stakes
(2014, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Distaff Handicap (2014, 2015)
Dwyer Stakes (2014)
Forego Handicap (2014)
Iroquois Handicap (2014, 2015)
Private Terms Stakes (2014)
True North Handicap (2014)
Union Avenue Stakes (2014, 2016)
Gallant Bloom Stakes (2015)
Safely Kept Stakes (2015)
Vagrancy Handicap (2015)
Vinery Madison Stakes (2015)
Interborough Stakes (2016)
John B. Campbell Handicap (2016)
Barbara Fritchie Handicap (2017)
Excelsior Stakes (2016)
Harrison E. Johnson Memorial Handicap (2017)
Jimmy Winkfield Stakes (2020)
Withers Stakes (2020)
Racing awards
New York Turf Writers Association Fourstardave Award for Outstanding Achievement (2000) [2]
NYTHA Trainer of the Year Award
(2009, 2010, 2013) [3]
Significant horses
City Zip, Palace, La Verdad, Things Change

Linda L. Rice (born March 7, 1964 in Racine, Wisconsin) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer and bloodstock agent. A trainer of graded stakes race winners and licensed since 1987, she has won multiple trainer titles at major race meets in the eastern United States.

Contents

Background

The daughter of trainer Clyde Rice who died on January 30, 2017, her brothers Curt, Bryan and Wayne also became involved in Thoroughbred racing. [4]

Since 2002, Rice has been a board member of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA). [5]

Notable runners

In 2000, Rice trained the colt City Zip, from the Adena Springs breeding farm of Frank Stronach, one of only four horses to win the Hopeful, Saratoga Special, and Sanford Stakes for two-year-olds. [6]

On August 18, 2008 at the Saratoga track, Rice's horses finished 1-2-3-4 in the Mechanicville Stakes. [7]

In 2015, La Verdad was voted the Eclipse Award for American Champion Female Sprint Horse, the first horse trained by Rice to be honored with a year-end championship. [8]

Career Record

On January 12, 2020, Linda Rice won the 2000th race of her career when Scilly Cay captured the Rego Park Stakes at Aqueduct Racetrack. [9]

Training titles

In 2009, Rice became the first woman in the modern era to win a trainer's title at a major U.S. racing circuit. She did so at Saratoga Race Course. She won the award with 75 starters, to the 135 starters of second-place finisher Todd Pletcher. [10]

In addition to her win at Saratoga Racecourse in 2009, in 2011-2012 Rice won back-to-back training titles at Aqueduct Racetrack. In July 2011 she tied Todd Pletcher for top honors in the Spring/Summer meet at Belmont Park. [11]

In 2017, having taken a stable of runners to the Laurel Park Spring meet in Maryland for the first time, Rice tied for the training title in number of wins, doing so with a 53% winning percentage. She had 51 starters to the 128 of her co-win leader, Keiron Magee. [12]

In 2023 Rice won or shared in all but one of the training titles across the NYRA tracks (Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga). She finished the year with 165 wins, establishing a new NYRA single-year record for trainers. [13]

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References

  1. ↑ "Trainer Profile | Linda Rice". Equibase. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. ↑ NYRA profile Linda Rice Retrieved July 28, 2019
  3. ↑ N Retrieved July 28, 2017
  4. ↑ February 1, 2017 Daily Racing Form (DRF) Retrieved July 24, 2017
  5. ↑ NYTHA profile of Linda Rice Retrieved July 28, 2017
  6. ↑ October 31, 2001 ESPN story titled "City Zip retired to New York farm" Retrieved July 27, 2017
  7. ↑ August 29, 2013 Forbes,com story titled "Thoroughbred Trainer Linda Rice A Groundbreaker For Women In Racing" retrieved July 27, 2017
  8. ↑ Daily Racing Form (DRF) January 6, 2016 story on the 2015 Eclipse Awards Retrieved July 30, 2017
  9. ↑ "Linda Rice Gets 2000th Career Win". Daily Racing Form at University of Kentucky Archives. 1942-06-27. Retrieved 2020-06-01.
  10. ↑ ESPN Sports September 10, 2009 story titled "Rice becomes Spa's top trainer" Retrieved July 7, 2017
  11. ↑ July 17 of 2011 Paulick Report story titled "Linda Rice gets win 1,000, earns share of Belmont meet title" Retrieved July 27, 2017
  12. ↑ May 8, 2017 Thoroughbred Daily News (TDN) story titled "With 53% Winners, Rice Ties for Laurel Title" Retrieved July 23, 2017
  13. ↑ Grening, David (31 December 2023). "Rice sets NYRA single-year mark for wins by trainer, also takes Aqueduct fall title". Daily Racing Form. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
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