NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward with 2009 Saratoga Leading Jockey Ramon Dominguez.

While jockey Ramon Dominguez continued to dominate the competition in New York, winning the jockey title for the 36-day meet at Saratoga Race Course by a comfortable margin with 45 wins, a new face jumped to the top of the trainer standings. Linda Rice, with 20 wins, narrowly edged out Todd Pletcher in the final days of the meet to become the first woman to win a training title at Saratoga Race Course.

It was the first training title of any kind for Rice, 45, who started her own stable in 1987.

“It means the world to me,” she said. “It has been a lot of work and a long time coming. It's a real honor to compete at the greatest racetrack in the world and come out with the training title.”

Things started out well when Rice won the first race of the meet with Good Prospect on July 29 and continued up from there. After going head-to-head with Pletcher, a six-time Saratoga training champion, Rice took the lead for good, 20-19, on Saturday when she saddled Gentle Ride to win the last race Saturday evening.

“As we went later in the meet, I was one up, and then Todd was two up,” she said. “Of course, I'm looking at the horses standing in my barn and not sure I could follow through. I was concerned for the last couple of days because I didn't have the right horses in. I placed a few horses pretty aggressively last week and it worked.”

All of Rice’s victories came on races carded for the turf and she has a stable of only 50 horses.

“I don't think you can go into Saratoga and think you're going to win the training title,” she said. “It was a lot of fun. Todd, Steve Asmussen, Billy Mott, Kiaran McLaughlin – they're great horsemen; they have very nice horses and nice stables. It's not easy to win a training title at Saratoga, period.”

Nor is it easy to win a jockey title – not even for Ramon Dominguez, who set a modern-day record for victories at the Belmont Park Spring/Summer meet with 98 total winners, having already broken Hall of Famer Angel Cordero Jr.’s mark of 92 set during the 1982 Belmont Park meet. Dominguez was also the leading jockey at Aqueduct Racetrack’s inner track meet and the spring meet.

“I’m very happy to be able to finish ahead - this is the meet that everybody wants to win,” Dominguez said. “I’m just grateful. Everybody in New York has been very supportive and my business has been pretty big, so I just hope that continues.”

Dominguez rode one winner on closing day at Saratoga, but has maintained a lead in the standings since August 26. He finished five wins ahead of his nearest competitor, Alan Garcia, who rode 40 winners.

For the second year in a row, Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey were the meet-leading owners, sending out 13 winners from 60 starters, with eight second-place finishes and four third-place finishes. Dominguez rode four of the Ramseys’ starters this meet, finishing in the money all four times with two wins, one second, and one third.

Thoroughbred racing moves downstate to Belmont Park for the 33-day Fall Championship Meet beginning Friday, September 11, and running through Sunday, October 25. With the exception of Columbus Day week, live racing is conducted Wednesday through Sunday with a first race post time of 1 p.m. There will be live racing on Columbus Day, Monday, October 12, with no racing on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 13 and 14. Racing will resume Thursday, October 15.

Photo 2: NYRA Vice President of Simulcasting Liz Bracken and Director of Guest Services Kim Justus with 2009 Saratoga Leading Trainer Linda Rice.