Rice ‘obviously very happy' with appellate court decision
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ELMONT, N.Y. – There may have been a little more pep in her step Friday morning, as trainer Linda Rice walked from her barn on the Belmont Park backstretch to the training track to oversee her horses’ preparations for upcoming races.
On Thursday, Rice received word that an Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court recommended that a three-year suspension of her license handed down by the New York State Gaming Commission in May 2021 for “conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing” should be thrown out.
In the ruling, the court said the penalty was “so disproportionate to the offense and shockingly unfair as to constitute an abuse of discretion as a matter of law.”
Rice, who despite the suspension had been working uninterrupted as the result of a stay she received while the appeals process played out, said Friday she was “obviously very happy with the decision.
“Frankly, it’s a relief to get that decision from the appellate court and we’ll wait to see how it unfolds from there,” Rice said.
The Gaming Commission could appeal the court’s ruling. The Gaming Commission on Thursday would not comment on the decision.
Rice was sanctioned for receiving information about which horses were in races she was considering entering in herself before entries for those races closed and were drawn.
In its ruling, the appellate court wrote that the “significance” of that information was in dispute given testimony by New York Racing Association officials during an eight-day hearing conducted in late 2020 to consider the allegations.
Rice was fined $50,000 by the commission and the court “would take no issue” with that penalty and remit the case back to the NYSGC “to reassess the penalty.”
Rice, who became the first female to win a Saratoga trainer’s title in 2009, is the leading trainer on the NYRA circuit so far in 2023 with 73 wins from 279 starters. Chad Brown is second with 37 wins from 135 starters.
Rice did not have any horses entered on Saturday’s 13-race Belmont Stakes card, one that included nine stakes.
“I couldn’t find a race I could win, so I said I’ll watch,” Rice said. “I didn’t feel my horses were up to the competition. Some of these races look really competitive, really tough. We had a very good winter and a very good spring. I looked at it as maybe this is a good day to watch.”
Rice said she would still attend the races on Saturday.
“I’ll come and celebrate with everybody else,” Rice said.
– additional reporting by Matt Hegarty
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