Linda Rice and Manny Franco closed Aqueduct Racetrack’s final live racing meet on Sunday, 28 June, by topping the Belmont at the Big A trainer and jockey standings. The result gave both figures a sweep of this year’s Aqueduct meetings after they had already led the winter and spring tables.
Rice finished the spring/summer meet with 31 wins, ahead of Chad Brown on 27 and Miguel Clement on 14, while Franco rode 53 winners, with Flavien Prat second on 33 and Ricardo Santana Jr third on 31.
Rice Leaves As Aqueduct’s All-Time Leading Trainer
The closing-day standings carried extra weight because live racing at Aqueduct has now ended after a run dating back to 1894. NYRA confirmed Rice leaves the Queens track as its all-time leading trainer with 1,222 career victories.
She also won Sunday’s third race with El Grande O, giving the Barry Schwartz homebred a seventh Big A success.
Rice’s meet record stood at 122-31-24-17, with $1,849,283 in purses and a 25.41 per cent strike-rate.
Franco, NYRA’s leading rider in 2025, ends Aqueduct’s live-racing era third on the track’s all-time jockey list with 1,549 wins.
His meet also included nine Saratoga wins during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Saratoga now takes centre stage, with live racing due to resume there on Friday for the 46-day summer meet.
