Rice claims starting to earn their keep
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Linda Rice went on a shopping spree last fall at Churchill Downs, claiming 10 horses for $462,500. Rice has run four of those horses back, with Charger winning a maiden special weight race at Parx on Jan. 4 and Flower Moon winning a maiden $40,000 claimer at Aqueduct last Sunday in her second start off the claim.
“We tried something new,” Rice said. “We’ll see how it works out.”
Its Cold in Dehere, at $62,500, was Rice’s most expensive claim of the 10 she haltered. Its Cold in Dehere won that race on Nov. 24 and is now being pointed to Sunday’s $100,000 Ladies Stakes. Her win on Nov. 24 was at the same 1 1/8-mile distance as the Ladies.
Its Cold in Dehere, a daughter of Ice Box, has a record of 10-8-5 from 32 starts. She has been claimed eight times in her career, for as low as $7,500 and as high as $62,500.
“No Lasix is an unknown, but I was pretty impressed with her the day we took her,” Rice said.
Horses are not permitted to race on Lasix in stakes at Aqueduct.