Gail Rice

Medina Spirit (Protonico) was named the 2021 Florida-bred Horse of the Year in a vote by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' and Owners' Association board of directors and announced at the FTBOA Awards Gala held Monday night at the Circle Square Cultural Center in Ocala. Bred in Florida by Gail Rice, who was honored with her second consecutive Needles Award Monday evening as the Association's small breeder of the year, and Medina Spirit's dam Mongolian Changa (Brilliant Speed) was also named the FTBOA Broodmare of the Year in a vote by...

For Gail Rice, the way luck and judgement play out with Thoroughbreds is sooner a matter of faith than mere fate. "God tries to make you make the right decisions," she declares. But then she gives a delighted, self-deprecating laugh and adds: "Apparently for once I listened properly!" Yes she did. Because you would have had to strain your ears pretty hard to catch the hint, the time Rice saw a young New York-bred mare by Freud in the back ring at the 2015 Fasig-Tipton February Sale. Scribbling Sarah had...