Linda Rice leading trainer at Aqueduct winter meet
At 1h43, on April 3, 2024 • By AQUEDUCT
Linda Rice continued to assert her dominance on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit when capturing the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet training title with 23 wins at the 45-day meeting which ran from January 1 through March 30.
Rice has now won the training title at six of the last seven NYRA meetings, along with year-end honors last year as the circuit’s top trainer with a record-tying 164 wins. She also came out on top at last year’s Big A winter meet with 37 wins.
Rice, 60, posted a record of 137-23-27-23 with $1,471,414 in earnings, good for a win rate of 16.79 percent and in-the-money rate of 53.28 percent. Her meet was highlighted by a stakes win in the Interborough with Hot Fudge, who she said is targeting the Grade 3, $175,000 Distaff Handicap on April 6 here.
David Jacobson, who trained five winners on the Closing Day card that included a score with Laughing Boy in the Listed $150,000 Excelsior, finished second with 22 wins. Rudy Rodriguez finished third with 19 wins.
Jockey Dylan Davis clinched his second Aqueduct winter meet riding title when posting 54 wins. The 29-year-old rider accomplished the feat despite missing the final two days of the meet to travel to Dubai and compete on Saturday’s Dubai World Cup card.
Davis claimed the title by two wins over Kendrick Carmouche with Jose Lezcano finishing third with 40 wins. Davis celebrates his first riding title since taking the 2022 Aqueduct winter meeting with 63 wins, part of a 186-win year at NYRA that saw him claim year-end honors as the circuit’s leading rider.
