Big Year for Horse Racing's Female Trainers

The 2023 racing season is officially in the books. It was a racing season that included a lot of parity with Mage winning the Kentucky Derby, National Treasure winning the Preakness Stakes, and Arcangelo taking down the Belmont Stakes. To put a cap on the year, White Abarrio finished the year with a flourish, winning the Whitney Stakes at Saratoga and the Breeders Cup Classic at Santa Anita Park. Enough to claim Horse of the Year? Perhaps.

The real story of the U.S. horse racing season was the performance of three (3) female trainers: Jena Antonucci, Linda Rice, and Brittany Russell. Let's take a look at the record-setting seasons for these fine ladies.

Jena Antonucci

After working as an assistant for the legendary Hall of Fame Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, Jena Antonucci set out on her one to start her own stable. She won her first race at Tampa Bay Downs in March 2010. Over the past 13 years, she has established herself as a reliable horseperson, winning over 165 races and $7.6 million in purse while racing mostly in Florida.

Antonucci finally got her opportunity to shine when 3-year-old when Arcangelo won the Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont, stamping himself as a contender for the Belmont Stakes. Indeed, Arcangelo did take a big step forward to claim the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes. In the process, Antonucci became the first female to trainer to train the winner of a Triple Crown Race.

Linda Rice

Linda Rice is no stranger to the U.S. horse racing community. She has been training horses on the tough New York circuit where she has amassed a majority of her 2,400+ career wins.

Being a leading trainer in New York is old hat for Rice who specializes in winning races with claiming horses. Of course, she has also had success in the stakes ranks, winning many Grade 1s and 2s along the way.

Putting her prior success aside, 2023 will be a year Rice will not soon forget. Starting with the summer Saratoga meet, Rice went into the last few days trailing Chad Brown by five (5) wins. She closed that gap to two (2) heading into the last day, where she won two races to claim her share of the title.

It turns out she had bigger plans for the year. Heading into the last racing day of 2023, Rice needed two wins to become the single-year training record holder in New York. She got her two wins to pass David Jacobs with an amazing 165 wins on the New York circuit.

Brittany Russell

At the age of 32 years old, Maryland-based trainer Brittany Russell has already made her mark as a top horseperson. She can now put the title of leading annual trainer on the Maryland circuit (Laurel & Pimlico) among her accomplishments, becoming the first female trainer to claim that title. Over the 2023 racing year, she amassed 118 wins, enough to place her 11th in the national rankings with a total of 177 wins across all circuits.