Linda Rice saddled her 165th winner of 2023 to set the record for most victories in a year on the New York Racing Association (NYRA) circuit Sunday at Aqueduct Racetrack.
“It's a tough number to get to. I think about how we're starting over at one tomorrow,” said Rice, with a laugh. “It's just been an incredible year. I'm really excited and I just hope we can do something that will compare going forward. That's a high bar to set.”
With George's Vice (Unified)'s win in Sunday's second race, Rice eclipsed the previous single-season record of 164 set by trainer David Jacobsen in 2013. During 2023, the 59-year-old earned leading trainer honors at the winter [37 wins] and spring [17 wins] meets at the Big A; the Belmont Park spring/summer meet [34 wins]; and tied with Chad Brown [35 wins] to register her second title at the Saratoga Race Course summer meet.
She has also secured the title at the Aqueduct fall meet, which concluded Sunday, with the record-setting victory on closing day marking her 20th win at the meet.
In addition to Rice's record training win, she also tied with Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables for leading owner at Aqueduct's fall meet. Each had seven wins. Klaravich Stables finished the year as NYRA's leading owner for a fifth consecutive time, completing the season with a record of 235-62-39-33 and purse earnings of $6,408,466. It was Klaravich's 25th owners' title at a NYRA meet and fifth this year.
Jockey Manny Franco won the Aqueduct fall riding title with 37 wins and earned the year's leading NYRA rider honors for the third time with 238 wins across the circuit's race meets.
Rice saddled 11 stakes winners on the NYRA circuit during 2023. Among that group was Pioneering Spirit (American Pharoah), who was haltered for $40,000 in March for owner A. Bianco Holding Limited and went on to win the Bernard Baruch S. and Knickerbocker S., and Mommasgottarun (Maclean's Music)–taken for $50,000 last December for owner Ronald P. Stewart–who won the GIII Distaff H.
“We claimed Pioneering Spirit in March in a maiden $40,000, and for him to win the Bernard Baruch, win the Knickerbocker, run in Grade Is, that was exciting,” Rice said. “Mommasgottarun we claimed in December. She won a Grade III, wins a couple of allowance races for some new clients. That was really exciting.”
Rice saddled her first winner, Contraboss, in 1987 at Garden State Park and now boasts a career record of 12,879-2409-1989-1829 for purse earnings in excess of $104 million, according to stats provided by Equibase.
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