Barn Tour: Aqueduct leader Rice has plans for 11 standouts

If her success lately at Aqueduct is any barometer, Linda Rice knows when to rest ’em. And knows when to race ’em. She does not always use conventional templates when it comes to scheduling the training at her stable.

“Over the years, sometimes I’ll give horses a break in the summertime when the competition is very steep at Belmont Park and there’s a lot of grass racing at Belmont and Saratoga,” Rice said.

Collectively, a lot of her horses have come back not only to her New York stable operation but to the winner’s circle at the Big A. Since the traditional schedule resumed there in November, Rice has won 24 times, more than any other trainer.

In the latest Horse Racing Nation Barn Tour, Rice said the secret to her success has been focused on staying home while others look for warmer surroundings.

“Often times I’ll give horses a breather in the summer, turn them out, freshen them up over the summer and plan to have them back in action for the fall meet and the winter meet and the spring meet,” she said in a phone conversation last week from Belmont Park for HRN’s Ron Flatter Racing Pod. “I feel like the fields are shorter, the purses are large, and it’s good time to make hay.”

Once size, however, does not fit all. Talking about 11 of her standouts, Rice offered updates about a mix of active workers and resting stablemates.

Arctic Arrogance. As the 6-5 favorite, he was a game second going a mile in the Jerome Stakes on Saturday at Aqueduct. The 3-year-old Frosted colt was pointed quickly to another Kentucky Derby prep, the Feb. 4 running of the 1 1/8-mile Withers (G3) at the Big A. “Yes, we’ll keep going,” Rice said after the neck loss, which came the month after a half-length loss to Dubyuhnell in the 1 1/8-mile Remsen (G2). “It’s not ideal to take a horse a mile-and-an-eighth and two turns and then shorten him up. ... He didn’t win, but he put in a great performance. As far as I’m concerned, we’re going to keep going to the next race.”

Valenzan Day. It might be back to sprints for the 3-year-old Khozan colt. The new arrival to Rice’s barn stalked the early pace in the Jerome in his first time going longer than seven furlongs. Valenzan Day had nothing left at the end and went from a close fifth to a distant last in the field of seven. Rice did not say what might be next for Valenzan Day, whom she claimed for $50,000 out of a runaway victory in a muddy allowance race last month at Aqueduct.

Betsy Blue. Off just a one-week break, the now 5-year-old Tonalist mare won the Garland of Roses on Dec. 10 for her second stakes win. Betsy Blue should be racing again Jan. 21 in the seven-furlong Interborough Stakes for older fillies and mares at Aqueduct. “She’s been terrific,” Rice said. “We are pointing her toward the Interborough, and if things go well there, we might bring her back (Feb. 18 at Laurel Park) in the Barbara Fritchie (G3). She just tries every time I lead her over there.”

Sheriff Bianco. In the money in seven consecutive starts, the Speightster gelding had his three-race winning streak broken Dec. 30 when he finished a close second as the odds-on favorite in an allowance sprint at Aqueduct. The streak began with a race that was taken off the turf. That is precisely where the now 5-year-old Sheriff Bianco has been since. “He’s really run very well on the dirt since that first race got rained off and we tried him on the dirt,” Rice said. “He’s been terrific.” Targeting an allowance start next for non-winners of two, Rice said, “We’ll give him a little time between races. We had them a little bit close together.”

Lifetime of Chance. The $135,000 maiden colt by The Lieutenant graduated from sprints Friday. He endured a wide, stalking trip and still finished a close second as the favorite in a mile for state-bred, 3-year-old maidens at Aqueduct. Before the race, Rice thought the longer the better for Lifetime of Chance. “He has shown signs that he really wants the distance,” she said. “The Lieutenant is a son of Street Sense, and he is out of a Storm Cat mare. ... He was coming on in his last few races on the end of the race, just not getting there.” Asked whether the Kentucky Derby trail might be in his future, Rice said, “I think it’s too ambitious at this point.”

Bobby the Tank. The 3-year-old colt by Carpe Diem got his first win on his fourth try as an even-money favorite in a $43,000 mile test for New York-bred maidens. That was in the Thanksgiving weekend slop during the Belmont at the Big A meet. In the money in his last two starts, Bobby the Tank still was at least seven lengths behind the winners of those starter allowance races in the Aqueduct mud. “I’m going to sit on him for a little while,” Rice said. “He was a little nervous in the paddock, showed some signs that he might need a little bit more time between races. We’re going to give him some time. I would expect him to run probably sometime at the end of February, maybe in a New York ‘a other than’ or back in a starter (allowance).”

Cold Hard Cash. The 6-year-old Maclean’s Music gelding is a five-time allowance winner and has finished in the money in 20 of his 26 starts. Most recently he was third in the Red Smith (G2) going 1 3/8 miles Thanksgiving weekend on the Aqueduct turf. “He went home to Barry Schwartz’s Stonewall Farm, which is north of the city here,” Rice said. “He’ll come back probably Feb. 15 or so to start to train towards a race. He’s been a delight. I had him as a 2-year-old for Barry, and each year he gets a little better. As I’ve told Barry, these grass horses just get better with age. I’m hoping for a big year with him.”

Kinetic Sky. Sold as a yearling for $450,000, this Runhappy horse was claimed by Winning Move Stable three months ago for $50,000. Since he was moved from Brad Cox’s stable to Rice, Kinetic Sky has won once at a mile and finished second twice in allowance starts at Aqueduct. In his first assignment as a 5-year-old, he was second as part of the favored entry in a seven-furlong race New Year’s Day for non-winners of three. “I think it was just too short for him,” Rice said. “He’s been a really nice horse, and I will not sprint him again at seven-eighths. We’ll keep him going longer. There’s a ‘three other than’ at the end of the month.”

Curlin’s Wisdom. The 4-year-old Curlin colt who had four wins and two seconds in his last six starts of 2022 got off to a horrible start for 2023. Literally. As the favorite in a mile allowance Friday at Aqueduct, he staggered out of the gate, got bottlenecked right away and never was a factor on his way to finishing last. Presuming she drew a line through that result, Rice might not be hesitant to bring Curlin’s Wisdom back soon after racing him 12 times last year. “Earlier in (2022) I was struggling to get him a dirt race at a route of ground, so I put him back on the turf in an effort just to get him around two turns. He managed to win on the turf, but he’s just improved month to month, and he clearly likes the dirt. I thought he’s best suited for a mile-and-an-eighth. ... He’s just a young, improving horse.”

Java Buzz. A $210,000 gelding by Mshawish, this maiden winner who is now a 4-year-old went south for the winter after finishing sixth in a turf allowance sprint Nov. 20 at Aqueduct. “My clients (Anthony Melfi and Frank Bellavia) who own him like to race in Miami. I don’t have a division in Miami. I’m just in New York full time. He’s down there with Kelly Breen. They will probably start him there, and I’ll see him back at my barn April 1.” Java Buzz’s most recent workout was a 1:01.7 bullet breeze covering five furlongs Friday at Palm Meadows.

Mrs. Green. As an odds-on favorite, the $240,000 Midnight Storm filly with maiden and allowance wins to her name finished a close second in a six-furlong turf race during Belmont at the Big A. That was Oct. 29. One workout later, she went to a Florida farm, where she turned 4 last week. “I sent her to Ocala for the winter,” Rice said. “She had sore shins as a 2-year-old. We didn’t get her started until her 3-year-old season, but she had a really nice campaign (7: 2-2-1). She looked like she was needing a break. She was a little tired and needed some rest. She is right now at Hidden Brook South with Mark Roberts and getting a three-month break.”

Ever present on the coldest days in the northeast, Rice said she is more concerned keeping her horses comfortable. That does not mean mild days.

“I would prefer that stayed a little colder, because it’s a struggle with these horses from too cold or too hot,” she said. “It’d be better if it stayed about 25 or 32. Somewhere in there. There’s the winter coat. It’s all the blanketing. One minute they’re too warm, and you try and keep them from growing hair. It’s a whole management struggle with that, so we always hope it stays about 32 degrees. It’d be perfect.”