Linda L. Rice (born March 7, 1964) 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.
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]
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]
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]
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]
Belmont Park is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Elmont, New York, just east of New York City limits best known for hosting the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of the American Triple Crown. It was opened on May 4, 1905, and is one of the best well known racetracks in the United States. The original structure was demolished in 1963, and a second facility opened in 1968. The second structure was demolished in 2023, and a third version of Belmont Park is expected to open in 2026.
Saratoga Race Course is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. Opened in 1863, it is often considered to be the oldest major sporting venue of any kind in the U.S. It is the fourth oldest racetrack after Pleasanton Fairgrounds Racetrack (1858), Freehold Raceway (1854) and Fair Grounds Race Course (1852).
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the state of New York, United States: Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens; Belmont Park in Elmont; and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs.
Aqueduct Racetrack is a Thoroughbred horse racing facility and casino in the South Ozone Park and Jamaica neighborhoods of Queens, New York City, United States. Aqueduct is the only racetrack located within New York City limits. Its racing meets are usually from late October/early November through April. The racetrack is located adjacent to a casino called Resorts World New York City.
The Matron Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the fall season at Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) track in Elmont, Long Island, New York. It is open to two-year-old fillies and is the filly counterpart to the Belmont Futurity Stakes.
The Mother Goose Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old fillies held at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Raced on dirt in late October, the race currently offers a purse of $250,000. Inaugurated in 1957 at a mile and a sixteenth, it was lengthened to a mile and an eighth in 1959. Originally part of the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing, the Mother Goose was removed from the series in 2010 and its distance reverted to a mile and a sixteenth.
The Peter Pan Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds over a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles run annually during the second week of May at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York.
John R. Velazquez is a Puerto Rican jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. He began his career in Puerto Rico and moved to New York in 1990. In 2004 and 2005 he was the United States Champion Jockey by earnings and both years was given the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey. He was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2012, rode his 5,000th winner in 2013, and became the leading money-earning jockey in the history of the sport in 2014.
Kiaran P. McLaughlin is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer best known for training 2006 Horse of the Year Invasor.
The Tremont Stakes is a Listed American Thoroughbred horse race run annually for two-year-olds over the distance of 5+1⁄2 furlongs on the dirt in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event carries a purse of US$150,000.
Personality (1967–1990) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was voted 1970 Horse of the Year honors.
Princess of Sylmar is an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2013 she appeared to have established herself as the leading American filly of her generation with Grade I wins in the Kentucky Oaks, Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama Stakes.
La Verdad was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. She was bred in New York by Eklektikos Stable and was owned by Sheila Rosenblum's Lady Sheila Stable. A winner of 16 races from 25 starts, she won the Eclipse Award as American Champion Female Sprint Horse for her accomplishments in 2015.
Irad Ortiz Jr. is a Puerto Rican jockey who has been a leading rider in the New York Thoroughbred horse racing circuit since 2012. He won his first Breeders' Cup race on Lady Eli in 2014, and his first American Classic on Creator in the 2016 Belmont Stakes. He won the 2022 Belmont Stakes on Mo Donegal.
José L. Ortiz is a Puerto Rican jockey who has been a rider on the New York Thoroughbred horse racing circuit since 2012. In 2016, he was the leading jockey in North America by number of wins, including his first win at the Breeders' Cup. In 2017, he earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey after he led the earnings list and won his first Triple Crown race, the 2017 Belmont Stakes. In 2019, he won the Kentucky Oaks. In 2022, he won the Preakness Stakes, his second Triple Crown race win.
The Pennine Ridge Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old over a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the inner turf held annually in late May or early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event currently carries a purse of $200,000.
The Intercontinental Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged four years old and older, over a distance of six furlongs on the turf held annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event currently carries a purse of $200,000.
The John A. Nerud Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for four years old or older at a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt run annually in early July at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The event currently offers a purse of $200,000.
The Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes is an American Grade III Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of one and three-eighths miles on the turf held annually in September at Belmont Park, Elmont, New York. The purse for the event is US$500,000.
Nest is a Champion American thoroughbred racehorse who has won multiple Grade I events as a three-year-old in 2022, including the Ashland Stakes, Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama Stakes. She also finished second in the 2022 Belmont Stakes, racing against male counterparts in that Triple Crown event.