Scilly Cay wins Rego Park to give Rice 2,000th victory

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Linda Rice became just the third female trainer to win 2,000 races when Scilly Cay captured Sunday’s $100,000 Rego Park Stakes at Aqueduct.

Already the most prolific female trainer in purse money won with $80 million – which puts her 32nd all-time among trainers – Rice joined Kim Hammond (2,280) and Kathleen O’Connell (2,127) as the only women to saddle 2,000 winners. It was also Rice’s 199th stakes victory, the most among female trainers.

“It’s exciting. You hit these milestones and they’re very meaningful,” Rice said. “I remember when I got my 1,000th it was [July 17, 2011] at Belmont with a horse of my father’s. To have one here at Aqueduct for John Clay and Alpha Delta, who is one of my great clients, is very exciting and rewarding.”

Rice, 55, entered Sunday’s card with 1,998 winners and had five horses entered in four races. The day did not start off well when Wisconsin Night finished last of four as the 1-2 favorite in race 2. Rice rebounded when Prairie Fire took the fifth. Prairie Fire was responsible for Rice’s 1,995th career win last Sunday here.

Rice had two of the four runners in the $100,000 Rego Park Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds, but the horse to beat was Dream Bigger, trained by Rudy Rodriguez. With the scratch of Convict, it left a field of four with Dream Bigger as the lone speed.

Rice and jockey Jose Lezcano agreed they had to put Scilly Cay into the race. Scilly Cay broke on top but Manny Franco hustled Dream Bigger to the lead. Lezcano kept Scilly Cay within a half-length before taking a short lead at the five-sixteenths pole. Straightening away in the lane, Scilly Cay began to draw away and despite not changing leads, he still won by 2 1/2 lengths.

Harris Bay finished second by a half-length over Dream Bigger, the 1-2 favorite. Notorious Flirt, also trained by Rice finished last.

Scilly Cat covered 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:19.00 and returned $5.60 to win.

“When the race scratched down to four and there was only one speed in the race, I knew that we were going to be in trouble if we tried the same tactics we had in the past,” said Rice, whose fifth runner Sunday, Catzalionbythetale, finished fifth in race 8. “Jose came to the paddock and he and I said the same thing, we’re going to have to put it to him otherwise we’d have no chance, and Jose did a beautiful job.”

It was that aggressive style that enabled Rice to be competitive for three decades on the New York Racing Association circuit. Of her 199 stakes wins, 46 were graded including eight Grade 1’s. She won two Grade 1 stakes at Saratoga with Palace, a horse she claimed for $20,000.

In 2009, Rice won her first NYRA meet training title, beating Todd Pletcher at Saratoga 20-19. She also won titles at Belmont and Aqueduct including the 2018-19 winter meet. Rice has finished in the top five in wins at NYRA tracks the last seven years including 2019 when she was second to Chad Brown, who is likely to win his fourth straight Eclipse Award as North America’s champion trainer.

“It’s very competitive, there are a lot of great horsemen here in New York and a lot of have been here before us,” Rice said. “It’s historic for me, it’s exciting.”