Jacobson: apprentice jockey Rice ‘can ride against anybody
in New York’
In the midst of a long, cold winter in New York, jockey
Taylor Rice has enjoyed a meet-long hot streak at Aqueduct, propelling
her from relative obscurity to fifth place in the inner-track jockey standings
and placing her name alongside some of the best riders in the business.
Through Thursday, Rice has compiled a record of 40-28-34
from 200 starts, putting her behind journeymen Irad Ortiz Jr., who sits atop
the leaderboard with 78 winners, Jose Ortiz, Cornelio Velasquez and Manny
Franco.
Though unknown to most prior to the 2013-2014 Aqueduct
winter meet, the 25-year-old apprentice comes from a family steeped in racing
tradition. Her grandfather, Clyde Rice, grew up with D. Wayne Lukas in Antigo,
Wisconsin, and is an owner and former trainer, and her aunt, Linda Rice, is a fixture
on the NYRA circuit and currently tied for third in the trainer standings at
Aqueduct.
Rice’s immediate family is actively involved in the game
as well. Her father is a trainer and former jockey, her mother is a farm
manager, and the first horse she rode to victory was trained by her brother.
Although relatively inexperienced, her strong racing
background helps explain the precocity she displays on the track, which has
caught the eye of industry veterans and casual fans alike.
“She’s already got down the hardest thing to learn, and
that’s patience and how to position your horses,” said former jockey and NYRA TV
analyst Richard Migliore, who heads the jockey apprentice program at The New
York Racing Association (NYRA).
“She puts her horses in good position and
sees a race well; that’s a very hard thing for a young rider to get. Now she
just needs to work on her physical strength and how she finishes on horses. When
(her strength) catches up to her intelligence, she’s going to be the complete
package.”
Before her current success, Rice came to Belmont in the
fall of 2013 for a two-week period after Presque Isle Downs closed at the end of
September. Although she didn’t ride any winners during that stretch, getting a
taste of elite racing proved useful when she moved her tack to Hawthorne
Racecourse, where she won 41 of 196 starts and finished seventh in the jockey
standings. When Hawthorne’s meet came to a close at the end of 2013, Rice headed
back to New York with a renewed confidence and primed for success on a bigger
stage.
“I was just a seven-pound bug with only six wins under me
when I first came (to New York),” explained Rice, who graduated from Florida State
University with a degree in international relations prior to launching her
career as a jockey. “(When I came back) the momentum I had from Hawthorne really
helped; people were willing to give me a shot.”
Chief among those ready to give her a leg up when she
returned to New York was her aunt, Linda Rice, who encouraged her to make the move to
the circuit due to its lucrative purses. Linda Rice was able to provide her with an
influx of shorter-priced horses to go along with the steady diet of long shots
every apprentice must first showcase their abilities on, which proved
instrumental to expanding the fledgling rider’s business.
“I was putting her on a lot of horses I own, at first,”
the trainer remarked, “but it wasn’t long before my other owners were telling me it
would be OK to have her ride their horses, too, once she started winning. She’s
a real talent.”
Already enjoying modest success at the meet, a major
breakthrough occurred for Rice when, almost by accident, she gained the
respect and business of the leading trainer on the NYRA circuit in 2013, David
Jacobson.
“I figured as a favor to Linda (Rice) I’d put her on a
horse or two; I had no idea how she could ride,” Jacobson stated. “One of them
won, one of them finished third, and she did everything right. I said, ‘Wow,
let’s try another one, maybe it was just luck.’ It turned out it wasn’t luck.
She’s a very skilled, talented rider and I feel she can ride against anybody in
New York.”
With two of the best trainers in New York giving her
mounts, Rice was poised to make a rapid ascension up the jockey standings. But
perhaps more impressive than her position on the leaderboard is the way she’s
achieved it, having ridden at least 75 fewer races than each of the four jockeys
ahead of her.
Her 20-percent win percentage is second only to Irad Ortiz Jr.’s
meet-leading 23 percent clip. While such a high conversion of winners is an
obvious testament to her skill, every jockey knows that it would be impossible
to win at that rate without the help of a savvy agent. In Rice’s case, it is
veteran agent Roger Sutton navigating the volatile landscape of racing for her
with precision and tact.
“To borrow an old racetrack term, I like the flashing
lights,” Sutton said. “9-2, 7-2, 8-5, 3-5, that’s where you’re going to win. I
want to ride a favorite every race. They say favorites win less than 30 percent
of the time but if I put her on a favorite, second favorite, or third favorite,
I’ve done my job. Then it’s up to the horse to produce.”
It is Rice’s ability to coax the best effort out of every
horse she gets aboard, whether it’s a favorite or a long shot, that has
separated her from many of the other apprentice jockeys who try to make a go of
it during the winter at the Big A. However, despite her tremendous success, Rice
is by no means a finished product, as she will readily admit.
“I definitely need to improve my strength, my finish,” admitted Rice, echoing the words of Migliore. “I just want to keep getting better and
better.”
While the waters will get deeper when many of the top
riders return from Florida, Rice is hopeful her attitude and professionalism
will continue to make her an attractive option to prospective employers. Her
gaudy win percentage may dip but her ability has already made a lasting
impression on owners, trainers, and fans.
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