New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Associaiton

New York-breds racing in open company at Saratoga this summer will be competing for increased purses, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday.

“NYRA is committed to supporting and enhancing the New York-bred program now and in the future,” said Frank Gabriel, NYRA SVP of Racing Operations. “These purse increases reflect the sustained growth of the New York-bred marketplace, while also rewarding owners already invested in the program.”

The purse for registered New York-breds running in select open-company races will be 30% higher than the purse offered for non-New York-breds. Additionally, New York State Breeding Fund Owner Awards and breeder awards will be paid on top of the 30% additional purse for registered New York-breds.

“The opportunity for registered New York-breds to compete for elevated purses in select open company conditions during the Saratoga meet, along with increases in breeder and open company awards provided by the New York State Thoroughbred Breeding & Development Fund reflect the commitment by New York's respective Thoroughbred racing stakeholders in continuing to elevate the New York-bred program,” said New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. Executive Director Najja Thompson. “We are confident much of the money earned from these purse increases will be reinvested in New York-breds, starting with the Fasig-Tipton New York-bred Select Yearlings Sale in August at Saratoga.”

In open maiden special weight races, New York-breds will run for a purse of $136,500–with up to $23,751 NYSBFOA–while non-New York-breds will compete for a purse of $105,000.

In allowance levels, open first-level allowances will offer a New York-bred purse of $149,500 (up to $26,013 NYSBFOA) and a non-New York-bred purse of $115,000; open second-level allowances offering a New York-bred purse of $156,000 (up to $27,144 NYSBFOA) and a non-New York-bred purse of $120,000; and third-level open allowances offering New York-breds $162,500 (up to $28,275 NYSBFOA) and a non-New York-bred purse of $125,000.

“These purse bonuses directly benefit owners of New York-breds by incentivizing them to compete in our open-company program,” said New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association president Joe Appelbaum. “New York-breds have routinely competed and won at all levels throughout the nation. This program provides owners and trainers a real dollars and cents reason to leave the restricted New York-bred program. The benefits will accrue to, not only the connections, but to field size, handle and ultimately back to the purse account.”

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There would be no fairytale ending Thursday at Aqueduct for trainer Rick Schosberg. Silken Dollar (Central Banker), the last horse he will start before retiring from training, finished eighth in Thursday's fourth race at Aqueduct. That's OK. Schosberg, 61, learned a long time ago that the life of a horse trainer is never that easy.

“Obviously the game has changed with the emergence of unlimited stall allocations,” Schosberg said. “It's really affected the competitiveness of it. It used to be that every barn had a different outfit. Now there are trainers that take up five barns. That has really hurt the smaller trainer. It's hard to compete. I have nothing against Todd [Pletcher] or Chad [Brown]. They did nothing wrong and played by the rules. More power to them.

“There are a lot of reasons I'm doing this now and certainly the financial part of it was a factor. It's hard to work seven days a week living in New York and taking home $55,000.That just covers the property taxes around here.”

But Schosberg is not complaining on his way out the door. Nor is he about to disappear. Schosberg will remain active on several fronts and will continue to spend much of his time working on horsemen's issues and advancing the cause of Thoroughbred aftercare. He is a vice president with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the president of two aftercare initiatives, Take 2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program and Take the Lead. He also sits on the board of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. He has been called the “conscious of the backstretch.”

“Something had to change,” he said. “We needed a system whereby the horsemen had an avenue that included a safety net for the horses. The industry has a responsibility to take care of these horses once they transition off the racetrack. Seventy-five percent of their lives comes after they are done racing. It's daunting task to be able to find facilities and organizations that are up to standard to make sure these horses are taken care of and rehabilitated for purposeful second careers. This work is very important to me.”

Schosberg will also continue to work with the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority and is on that organization's horsemen's advisory committee. There's more: he will continue on as an owner and has some horses in partnership with Clear Stars Stable. He also sits on the board of Marx Realty, a Manhattan-based commercial real estate company that was started by his grandfather.

“I'm still going to be around,” he said. “It's just that I don't have to get out of bed at 3:30 in the morning any more. Trust me, that gets old fast.”

Schosberg, a Cornell graduate, worked for trainers Tom Skiffington, Sid Watters and Walter Kelley before going out on his own in 1988. He won 62 races in 1993, 63 in 2000 and will finish his career with 876 winners from 5,794 starters and earnings of $38,278,409. His best horse was Maria's Mon, the champion 2-year-old colt of 1995 and the winner of the GI Champagne S. and the GI Futurity S. He also campaigned Affirmed Success, whose career included wins in the GI Cigar Mile H., the GI Carter H. and the GI Vosburgh S. Schosberg won 25 graded races.

“I've had a wonderful career and have been lucky to have wonderful clients and owners,” he said.

With his stable including about 15 horses through much of this year, Schosberg has won 12 races in 2022. He won seven last year and six the year before. He will officially continue on as a trainer for the remainder of the calendar year, but does not have any horses entered for the rest of 2022. His horses will be dispersed, some going to trainer David Duggan and the rest to trainer David Donk.

For Schosberg, Thursday was like so many other days, thousands of them in fact. He got up early, worked, drove back and forth between Aqueduct and Belmont, ran a horse who didn't live up to her 5-1 odds and put in a 13-hour day. But now that's all done with.

“How did it feel? I don't think it has sunk in yet,” he said when asked about starting his last horse.

Come Sunday and the beginning of the new year, he can catch a couple extra hours of sleep and won't have to deal with the pressures of trying to grind out a living with a medium-sized stable. It figures to be a good day.

The post Thirty Two Years and 5,794 Starters Later, Rick Schosberg Calls it a Career appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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