Linda Rice

In Yiddish, a mensch is a person who personifies integrity, morality, dignity and a sense of what is right and responsible. But mensch is more than just an old Yiddish adage, it is a word that best describes the managing partner of In Front Racing Stables, Howie Heiberger. Heiberger was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and that meant having Aqueduct as a beacon of fun and excitement just a few miles away. As a teenager in the late 70s, he and his friends would put forward the $1...

Trainer Linda Rice has been suspended 14 days and fined $2,000 by the New York State Gaming Commission after a filly under her care returned a positive test for the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug phenylbutazone following a 9 1/2-length win as the 4-5 favorite at Aqueduct Racetrack more than eight months ago. Rice has appealed the Sept. 28 ruling, so she has been granted a stay of those penalties pending a final resolution. The NYSGC also made it public on Friday that Rice will be appearing before the commission for a...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Following a tradition that has been in place for several years, King's Tavern across the street from Saratoga Race Course was not open for business Monday, the final day of annual summer meet. Closed on closing day. On purpose. While it may be a sad afternoon for the 22,097 patrons on the grounds for the last card of 2023, the Fitch brothers, who operate King's and the City Tavern on Caroline Street, use closing day at the track to pause a bit on Labor Day and...

A proposed change to claiming rules in New York would double the time that a claimed horse must refrain from racing outside the state, from 30 to 60 days. In addition, in an effort to make it easier to acquire Thoroughbreds via claims, another proposed change would extend time periods for owners to be eligible to claim horses. Those measures, plus several other tweaks to the "Who may make claim" rule 4038.1, were advanced by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) at Thursday's monthly meeting. There was zero discussion...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.  - Jockey Jose Ortiz's return to competition at Saratoga Race Course Wednesday was very rewarding with three victories...and taxing. Ortiz was unseated and fell hard to the ground when his horse clipped heels in the first race of Friday's card. He was sent to Albany Medical Center where he was found to have bruised ribs. Ortiz took off his mounts Saturday and Sunday and was ready to ride again Wednesday, the start of the third week of the meet. In his comeback, Ortiz won with three of...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - After nine days of racing, Linda Rice has already had a Saratoga season most trainers would consider a roaring success. Rice starts the third week of the meet Wednesday atop the trainers' table with 10 victories, one up on two-time defending champ Chad Brown and two ahead of Todd Pletcher, a 14-time Saratoga titlist. She is winning at a 32% clip and her 31 starters have finished in the top three 22 times, an impressive 70.9 %. How does it feel to be Linda Rice these...

After a close battle with his brother through the final days of the 40-day spring/summer meet at Belmont Park, jockey Jose Ortiz secured the leading riding title on Sunday at the Belmont oval, finishing the meet just one win ahead with 59 total victories. Ortiz celebrated his 12th overall meet riding title. He was also the leading rider on the NYRA circuit in 2016, 2020 and 2021. Ortiz closed out the meet with a record of 246-59-44-38 and total purse earnings of $4,921,926, putting him at a win rate of...

Prior to the running of the GI Belmont S., Jena Antonucci was hardly a household name, even within racing circles. Not anymore. The win she pulled off with Arcangelo (Arrogate) in the Belmont and the story it involved, a female trainer with a small stable and her $35,000 yearling creating history at Belmont Park, has energized an industry that was desperate for some good news. How did she do it and what did the win mean to her? Those were among the questions we asked her when Antonucci joined the...

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC)'s three-year ban of trainer Linda Rice is "entirely unwarranted," according to a decision handed down Thursday by the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division (Third Department). The decision was unanimous. The Gaming Commission fined Rice $50,000 and revoked her license for three years on May 17, 2021 after investigating claims that Rice received favorable treatment from the NYRA racing office and that the racing office was releasing to her the names and past performances of horses that had already been entered in races,...

The 19-day Aqueduct Racetrack spring meet, which ran from Mar. 30 to Apr. 30, closed out with jockey Manny Franco and trainer Linda Rice repeat as the leaders in their respective divisions after taking the titles at this year's Aqueduct winter meet. Franco secured his second Big A spring meet riding title with 37 wins while Rice won her fourth Aqueduct spring meet training title with 17 wins. Franco, a 28-year-old native of Carolina, Puerto Rico, earned the eighth riding title of his career. "I'm very grateful for the help...

Jockey Manny Franco captured his fourth winter meet riding title at Aqueduct, posting 63 wins at the meet that ran from Jan. 1 to March 26. Linda Rice paced all trainers with 37 wins, while Windylea Farm secured their first NYRA-circuit owners title with 12 wins. "It means a lot to me. This is what we're here for," said Franco, who is represented by agent John Panagot. "I want to be one of the top riders here on the New York circuit, and I work hard to make it happen....

Downtown Mischief (Into Mischief) brought another stakes win home for super sire Into Mischief on Saturday afternoon at Aqueduct Racetrack. The New York-bred filly is now a perfect three-for three after her victory in the Cicada S. Breaking her maiden on-track Jan. 14, the Linda Rice trainee won that debut by a sparkling 7 3/4-lengths at six panels and followed that up at Ozone Park Feb. 17 by clearing the next optional claiming hurdle in the slop by 1 1/4-lengths over the next-out winner, Midtown Lights (Redesdale). Supported at the...