| Linda Rice | |
| Occupation: | Trainer |
| Birth Date: | March 7, 1964 |
| Birth Place: | Racine, Wisconsin |
| Career Wins: | 2,409 (as of December 31, 2023)[1] | race = 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)| awards = New York Turf Writers Association Fourstardave Award for Outstanding Achievement (2000)[2] NYTHA Trainer of the Year Award (2009, 2010, 2013)[3] | honours = | horses = City Zip, Palace, La Verdad, Things Change}}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. BackgroundThe 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 runnersIn 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 RecordOn 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 titlesIn 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] References |