A Real Pace Setter
by Hallie Sawyer
Photography by Jill Richardson
Hair & Make up by Jennifer Mccarthy Norton
Dedication, hard work and zeal are synonymous with Linda Rice. She is one of the most decorated female horse trainers in the history of horse racing, with more than 1,141 career winners and $38 million in purse earnings. After hearing about her daily schedule, it was clear why.
Her days are jam-packed running Linda Rice Racing, which has about 40 to 60 horses and has been in business since 1987. She has two operating barns, with Belmont Park serving as home base and a smaller operation that winters in Miami and then transfers up to Sara-toga for the Saratoga Meet, which began this year on July 19 and concludes on September 2. She told us that a part of her stables’ success comes from the continuity and quality of her staff, which includes two assistants, two secretaries, a couple of foremen and a crew of workers, many of whom have been with her for more than 15 years. She takes the busy life of a horse trainer in stride because she is so passionate about horses, competing and delivering success for her clients.
If she is able to take time off, she usually spends time at horse auctions or traveling to see her family in Ocala, Florida. She chooses to live in Saratoga part time, not only as a necessity for her horse-training career but because she loves the area. “I like the town and this part of the country. It’s a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of Long Island, and it reminds me very much of the place I grew up, Hershey, Pennsylvania.” Outside of horses, she enjoys working out, watching films, and playing piano with the very little free time that she does have.
Her intro to horses came at a very young age and you could say it was in her blood. She was born in Wisconsin but raised on the family farm in Pennsylvania. They had about 30 to 40 horses and she spent many hours performing chores such as fixing fences and baling hay with her three older brothers. Her father was a leading trainer in Pennsylvania for 10 to 15 years, and she began going to horse auctions with him when she was 9 years old. “As a young girl, I followed my father to horse auctions every year, and once you’ve done that for a while, it gets in your blood.” The knack for training and racing took hold and it has been a passion of hers ever since.
Back in Wisconsin, her father grew up working and training horses with his close friend D. Wayne Lukas, who is now a Hall of Fame trainer. Linda’s father moved the family to Pennsylvania and Wayne moved to New Mexico, but, by then, they both had left an impression on Linda. “Wayne Lukas has probably been my greatest inspiration besides my father. I watched him on television for many years as he won championships and was a very charismatic figure of horse racing.” On her web-site, she also credits two women who helped inspire her career, Janet Elliot, the first female steeplechase trainer to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, in 2009, and jockey Julie Krone, still the only woman to win a Triple Crown race.
She started her own stable in 1987 after studying computer science at Penn State, getting her first win with her first starter, Contrabass, one of her father’s horses. She began by training a handful of horses for her father as well as a few for clients, and the business grew from there. She had the experience of running her father’s stable as a young girl, but this time she was on her own. She won her 1,000th race also with one of her father’s horses. Linda’s lived in New York for the past 20 years and sees her stables as a work in progress. By keeping her head down and pushing on, she has been able to create one of the most successful stables in horse racing.
She credits her accomplished career to being immersed in racing at such a young age. “I watched the winning, the losing, the excitement, the victories, the losses, and the joy of competition.” When it comes to being a rare female in a male-dominated sport, she said those times are changing. In a recent interview with The Horse Racing Radio Network, Linda said she faced an uphill battle when she started in New York in 1992 as one of very few female trainers. She noted that the number of women trainers has increased in the past ten years and hoped that a female winning four training titles in New York may have helped that trend. In the beginning, she knew many of her male counterparts didn’t think she was going to last, but with hard work and dedication, she’s earned their respect. When asked if she feels extra pressure as a female trainer, Linda said she doesn’t see female versus male when she enters a race; she just sees herself as a trainer competing to win.
Linda has become an inspiration for young female horse enthusiasts and receives many letters and emails from young girls to college students asking for advice on the business. Her advice for young girls interested in pursuing horse training or any life dream is to get involved early; the younger they start pursuing their passion the better. She said they must work very hard and dedicate themselves to what they love. Just as importantly, she said they must surround themselves with people who know what they are doing and can teach them well.
Linda said she faced an uphill battle when she started in New York in 1992 as one of very few female trainers. She noted that the number of women trainers has increased in the past ten years and hoped that a female winning four training titles in New York may have helped that trend. In the beginning, she knew many of her male counterparts didn’t think she was going to last, but with hard work and dedication, she’s earned their respect. When asked if she feels extra pressure as a female trainer, Linda said she doesn’t see female versus male when she enters a race; she just sees herself as a trainer competing to win.
Linda has become an inspiration for young female horse enthusiasts and receives many letters and emails from young girls to college students asking for advice on the business. Serving her third term on the New York Horsemen’s Board enables Linda to see first-hand the board’s impact on young girls through monetary donations they give to many thoroughbred retirement foundations. Linda said she is thrilled to see the girls getting so much enjoyment by riding retired thoroughbreds, with some of them being horses she has trained in her own stables. “They remind me of myself at their age.” Her advice for young girls interested in pursuing horse training or any life dream is to get involved early; the younger they start pursuing their passion the better. She said they must work very hard and dedicate themselves to what they love. Just as importantly, she said they must surround themselves with people who know what they are doing and can teach them well.
Another key component of Linda’s racing success is her keen understanding of her horses and knowing the right races for them. “When you place a horse in a race where they can’t compete, it is very discouraging for the horse. When a horse puts forth a big effort, and a futile one, after a few times the horse quits trying.” Linda also said horses do recognize winning and losing, but some more than others. On occasion, she will have a horse that has a tremendous desire to win and seems to know exactly where the finish line will be. Finding those horses with that great desire is Linda’s ultimate goal.
It’s also very important to Linda to find her horses homes after their racing careers if they aren’t going to be stallions or brood mares. She believes New York has a great horse retirement program and is proud to be a part of it. She works with Anna Ford of the New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program, helping with donations and doing what she can to support the program. She’s also been the chairperson for the Education Fund and Scholarship Committee in The New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association for the past ten years. They have given 26 scholarships this year to backstretch workers and their direct dependents to supplement the cost of education. These are the workers who have the less-than-glamorous side of life in horse racing: cleaning stalls, working in the cafeteria, grooming, training and exercising horses at the track’s on-site stables.
“As a young girl, I didn’t think training horses would be much fun if I didn’t get to ride the horses. But as I got older, I could see that had to change.” She loves the horses, and loves watching them progress and succeed. She buys horses at all ages for her clients, weanlings, yearlings and two-year-olds. The goal is get them to the winner’s circle and into stakes races, and she fi nds that process very rewarding. And she’s been to the winner’s circle…a lot. She has a couple of favorite moments, including winning the Training Title at Saratoga in 2009. “Winning the Saratoga Training Title was my best moment in racing. Since then I’ve gone on to win two titles at Aqueduct and tied Todd Pletcher for one title at Belmont. I don’t think any of them will ever compare to the first, and, of course, probably the best, being Saratoga.”
Linda has had some amazing success in Saratoga; in 2000 she swept the two-year-old juvenile series at Saratoga with City Zip, winning the Sanford, Saratoga Special and Hopeful Stakes. Rice was also presented the Fourstardave Award for Outstanding Achievement at Saratoga in 2000 by the New York Turf Writers Association. In the 2007 Saratoga Meet she sent out six straight winners. She also had four horses in one race place in the top four spots in 2008; this was later known as the Rice Superfecta. Rice was named to the 2010 list of “Women of Influence” by the Thoroughbred Times. She was also honored as Trainer of the Year in 2009 and 2010 by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. and is currently the leading female trainer in North America.
At this point in her career, winning the Travers Stakes and the Kentucky Derby are two of the most significant accomplishments she has yet to achieve. Of course, she would also love to win the Triple Crown and is hopeful that one day she can add that to her list of accomplishments. But for now, her goal is to continue to improve her business. With her computer science background, she is always looking to bring new technology to her stable as well as other improvements, whether that means a better barn, a better office, or better health benefits for her employees. “As a more mature and successful trainer, I can spend my time on things I enjoy and weed out the things I don’t. One of my goals has been to try to create a business environment where everyone enjoys working; the staff enjoys being there and they get as much of a sense of accomplishment as I do.” She hopes that one day her dedication to improving Linda Rice Racing will take her to that next level.
Saratoga holds a special place in her heart, as she’s made some great friends here over the years. She looks forward to the Saratoga Meet as she does every year and spending time in a place she considers home away from home.