Kentucky Derby: Rice disappointed but rooting for Max Player
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Linda Rice said she will have mixed emotions Saturday watching the Kentucky Derby on television from Saratoga. She would much rather be in Louisville, putting the saddle on Max Player in what would have been her first Kentucky Derby.
But following Max Player’s third-place finish to Tiz the Law in the Travers Stakes on Aug. 8, owners George Hall and the SportBLX Thoroughbreds syndicate transferred the horse to Steve Amsussen, saying publicly they wanted a locally based trainer to prepare the horse for the Derby.
“I have mixed feelings about it,” Rice said Thursday morning. “I’m disappointed not to get to walk across the track in my first Derby. My entire staff, myself we’re all disappointed about that. But Max Player is a young, improving horse, we’re excited to watch him run and see how he does in a race like this, but obviously my whole team is disappointed that we’re not with him.”
Under Rice’s care, Max Player won 2 of 5 starts, including the Grade 3 Withers at Aqueduct on Feb. 1. After electing to skip a couple of spots out of town when New York racing was shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Rice ran Max Player in the reconfigured Belmont Stakes on June 20, where he ran a respectable third, beaten 5 1/4 lengths by Tiz the Law. In the Travers, Max Player was again third, beaten 7 1/2 lengths by Tiz the Law, who ran the best race of his terrific career.
“I thought his Belmont race was a little better, but his Beyer Speed Figure moved forwards in the Travers, so maybe that was an illusion,” Rice said.
Max Player has had issues with dirt being kicked back in his face, and Rice views being drawn inside in post 2 as a potential hurdle.
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“I’m not sure the two post is great, but he is a horse that’s going to love the mile and a quarter,” Rice said. “He’s improving. If Tiz the Law doesn’t show with his typical brilliance he might be right there to pick up the pieces, or at least get a slice of it, which he’s done before.
“I would be excited if we were in it. We’re going to be watching from the bench. It is what it is. We’ll wish him luck.”