Aqueduct Racetrack has hosted countless horsemen in its 132-year history, and an even larger number of horses to grace its surfaces. As the Big A approaches its finish line on June 28, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) press office checked in with a handful of the dedicated horsemen and women that have woven themselves into Aqueduct's story to reflect on their memories at the South Ozone Park oval.
NYRA will say farewell to Aqueduct Racetrack with a memorable Closing Weekend celebration on Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28. For a full listing of onsite activities and to order tickets in advance, please visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/visit/farewell/.
Following the conclusion of live racing on June 28, Aqueduct Racetrack will remain open for simulcasting through Monday, September 7.
Linda Rice
NYRA's leading trainer in two of the last three years, Linda Rice has been a top presence at Aqueduct for more than three decades, but took it to the next level since 2023, winning 12 of the last 17 meet training titles here. Her 1,215 wins as of June 20 make her the leading trainer by wins at the Big A, according to statistics provided by Equibase dating to 1976.
"Aqueduct is more hardcore, passionate racing fans - there's no tourists, really, and it's just people who follow the game, understand it, and they'll yell at you when you lose and cheer for you when you win," Rice said, with a laugh. "It's a hardcore crowd, but we enjoy it."
Rice has claimed victory in some of Aqueduct's most historic events, winning four editions of the Grade 3 Distaff Handicap [La Verdad, 2014-15 as a Grade 2; Holiday Disguise, 2018; and Mommasgottarun, 2023]; the Grade 2 Remsen in 1996 with The Silver Move; the 2020 Grade 3 Withers with Max Player; the Grade 3 Excelsior in 2016 with Kid Cruz and as a listed event in 2026 with Yo Daddy; and the 2023 Grade 3 Bay Shore with Joey Freshwater.
"I'm going to miss Aqueduct and I've spent a lot of years racing here," Rice said. "I've built my career in New York, and a big part of that has been Aqueduct. As a young trainer, I was struggling and climbing the ladder, and then won several titles here. I remember in 1996 I won the Remsen with The Silver Move, and that was very memorable."
La Verdad's two wins in the Distaff were part of a remarkable career that saw her win eight of her 11 starts at Aqueduct, among 16 overall career wins. Her 2015 Distaff score kicked off a campaign that awarded her the Eclipse Award as Champion Female Sprinter, and her final win came in the 2016 Interborough over the Big A inner track.
"I remember the last race of her career in the Interborough, and that being the 16th win of her career - it was her last hurrah. That was really special," Rice said.
With 66 total stakes wins at Aqueduct, Rice said it is the everyday races with her clients, friends and team that have become her most treasured memories in Ozone Park.
"There's been lots of exciting moments here, but I can't say it's the stakes races that really stand out to me," Rice said. "Sometimes, we're here and the snow's coming down or the rain, but we're here and we're all smiling. You're in the winner's circle and you're smiling. The winter brings a lot of conditions with it, but we all like the competition and we like to win."
And beyond her own personal accomplishments, Rice fondly recalls the moment jockey Kendrick Carmouche - who often rides for her - won his 4,000th career race on April 5, 2025 and jumped the fence from the track to the apron into a crowd of fans to celebrate the milestone.
"One of the special moments to me was watching Kendrick win his 4,000th race and jump the fence to have his fans supporting him and cheering for him," Rice said. "That was very special, and that's how I'll remember Aqueduct - the passion."
In addition to her accomplishments as a trainer, Rice has also been the leading owner at Aqueduct meets seven times since 2022.
"I've had a lot of emotional, exciting wins with clients, friends and family, and it's going to be hard to turn the page, but we will," she said. "We'll see what Belmont brings. I hope it's wonderful."
Todd Pletcher
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher found graded success for the first time when sending out Jersey Girl to win the Grade 3 Cicada here in 1998. Since then, the veteran conditioner has compiled the most stakes wins at Aqueduct with 228 victories. Additionally, he has won the most Grade 1s at the Big A with 15, and fourth-most overall wins at 972, contributing to seven Aqueduct meet training titles.
"It's a big part of our spring and fall program, and we were fortunate enough to have success in the Wood Memorial and the fall races - Remsen, Demoiselle, Cigar Mile, those races were always important to us," he said. "Since I went to work for Wayne [Lukas] in '89, Aqueduct has been part of the program. It's one of the blue-collar tracks for New York, and you think of the winter program and how important it is to keep it going year-round. It's going to be strange not to have it. It will be a big change, and hopefully the new Belmont is beautiful."
Among his wins was a memorable annexing of three consecutive stakes in tandem with owner Mike Repole on November 24, 2012, winning the Grade 2 Demoiselle [Unlimited Budget], Grade 2 Remsen [Overanalyze] and Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap by a nose with Stay Thirsty to complete a four-win day overall for Pletcher. Repole and Pletcher also teamed up to claim the gelding Calibrachoa for $40,000 from a November 2010 sprint at the Big A, and went on to win 6-of-7 stakes attempts there with him from 2010-2012, including five Grade 3s.
Pletcher holds the record for most Cigar Mile winners at seven, and conditioned the second-most Wood Memorial winners with seven as well. His 2010 Wood Memorial-winner, Eskendereya, won by 9 3/4 lengths under Hall of Famer John Velazquez, the largest margin of victory in the Wood since Bellamy Road's record 17 1/2 lengths in 2005.
"I think Eskendereya's Wood Memorial stands out, and the one day with Repole where we won the Demoiselle, Remsen and then got a tremendous head bob with Stay Thirsty in the Cigar Mile. I mean, it was the head bob of a lifetime to win that one," Pletcher recalled. "Calibrachoa, we got lucky with and made a good claim. He was a tough horse and a quality sprinter - a fun horse to have in the barn. The Cigar Mile has always been such a great race and we are fortunate to have had success in it with horses like Left Bank...it brings back good memories."
Manny Franco
The third-leading rider in wins at the Big A, and leading among active riders, Manny Franco has posted 1,538 victories at Aqueduct as of June 20.
"This place means a lot to me," Franco said. "Since I got here from Puerto Rico, I've been doing really well. I didn't expect to do that well here. So, it is sad to see it close."
Franco, 31, was NYRA's leading rider in 2018-19, 2023 and 2025, and has won 16 riding titles at the Big A. He has won several of Aqueduct's key races, including two editions of the Carter as a Grade 1 in 2019 with World of Trouble and as a Grade 2 in 2025 with Crazy Mason, the Grade 3 Gotham [Iron Honor, 2026], Withers [2015-16, Far From Over and Sunny Ridge; 2023, Hit Show], Demoiselle [2018, Positive Spirit], Gazelle [2019, Always Shopping], and Tom Fool Handicap [2022, Officiating], among 152 stakes wins at the Big A.
"There's been a lot of special races," Franco said. "I won the Carter two times. The first was with World of Trouble, the second was a horse for Gregg Sacco, Crazy Mason - that was an unbelievable race. He had to make up a lot of ground to get there. I was just happy to be the pilot on him that day, and happy to do it around here. I've also won the Gotham. There are so many good races here. It's been great."
Franco, who is currently represented by agent John Panagot, is well on his way to another potential riding title in New York, currently leading the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet standings with 42 wins heading into the Sunday card. 34 of those wins came at Aqueduct, while the other eight came at Saratoga during the five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
"I've just been lucky to have people around me that helped me get into this position right now," Franco said. "With the agents I've had, they've been doing a great job with me. I'm happy to be in the position of the leading rider for many years here."
And with all the success Franco has seen in his 13 years on the mainland, that prosperity began at Aqueduct, where he rode his first winner outside of Puerto Rico aboard Roaring Seasons on March 22, 2013 in a maiden claiming tilt.
"New York is the toughest place to ride in the world, I think. To be doing what I've done, I'm blessed. Just working hard every day," Franco said. "Hopefully, we do great with the new Belmont. I think it is going to be helpful for the horses, because they'll be stabled there. Hopefully, we keep the momentum there too and keep winning races. I will miss Aqueduct for sure, but we have to move on and adapt to what's new."
Bruce Levine
The second winningest trainer at Aqueduct, Bruce Levine has won 1,037 races at the Big A as of June 20 - almost half of his total career wins. The veteran conditioner saddled his very first winner here - I'm It in a 1979 claiming tilt.
"It's sad to see Aqueduct go. My first winner was there, and you could get your start with the winter racing there," Levine said. "It was a good jumpstart for young trainers. You became competitive in the winter and it was always something to look forward to. I'll definitely always miss it. I was stabled there for 15 years and I'm so fond of it."
Levine won his first Grade 1 in the 2008 Carter Handicap with Bustin Stones, and trained hard-knocking Coyote Lakes, who became a fan favorite as he won the Grade 3 Gallant Fox - a 1 5/8-mile dirt marathon - in three consecutive runnings from 2001-02.
"Bustin Stones and Coyotes Lakes were some of my favorite memories," said Levine. "Coyote lasted five or six years and we'd turn him out in the summer and point him for the Gallant Fox in the winter. It was really neat he won it three times. Bustin Stones was also really neat. I'm going to miss it. It's a great oval, and the structure itself is pretty cool. The fans were always great and they were hardcore fans that appreciated the races and made it nice."
Nick Santagata
Grade 1-winning jockey Nick Santagata made a lasting impact at Aqueduct, where he won hundreds of races as a rider before retiring and becoming a valet at NYRA's racetracks.
Santagata, a native of Brooklyn, attended a riding school in his youth in Jamaica Queens, and rode his first race in 1977. He went on to land his first trip to the winner's circle on February 5, 1978 aboard Rapid Invader at Keystone Race Track, and in 1986, he captured the Aqueduct winter meet riding title with 62 wins.
"It's going to be sad to see it go, but we've got a new track over there at Belmont that's state-of-the-art with modern everything, so hopefully we can capitalize on that and we'll be one of the best circuits in America," he said.
Among his wins at the Big A were a Grade 1 triumph atop the Jack Ludwig-trained Another Reef in the 1985 Vosburgh, as well as additional graded scores in the 1988 Grade 3 Rare Treat Handicap aboard With a Twist, the 1989 Grade 2 Distaff Handicap on Avie's Gal, the second division of the 1986 Grade 2 Bay Shore on Buck Aly and the 1991 Grade 3 Bold Ruler with Rousing Past.
"I've been here a long time as a hotwalker, an exercise rider, a jockey, a valet," said Santagata, who continued to gallop horses in the mornings until 2024. "It's a place that made a lot of careers - mine especially - and there's a lot of places that didn't have winter racing and we did here. We would get our exposure here. My only Grade 1 came in the Vosburgh, and there's so many good memories and people here. It's hard to pinpoint one."
From 1993-94, Santagata would climb aboard the New York-bred Lottsa Talc and guide her to two stakes wins at Aqueduct, which were part of nine stakes wins - the record for a single horse at Aqueduct - that the mare would compile.
Trained by Tim Kelly for owner Vincent McGuire, Lottsa Talc was tough as nails across her 65-start career that spanned from 1992 through 1997. A daughter of Talc foaled in 1990, Lottsa Talc placed her name among the list of Empire State-bred millionaires, banking $1,206,248 in total purses with an additional 22 on-the-board efforts to go with her victories.
"I was good friends with the trainer and the owner was great," Santagata said. "She was a New York-bred and she was one of the top ones at the time. What was good about her was that she had so many jockeys that rode her, and she was good to everybody. When one horse wins with so many jockeys, it goes to show you how much talent there is around here."
With Santagata at the helm, Lottsa Talc scored the first two of her nine Big A stakes wins, starting with the state-bred Schenectady Handicap in November 1993 by 2 1/4 lengths. After three on-the-board efforts in her next four outings under Santagata, the two would team up again at the Big A to land the Hyde Park Handicap by a half-length facing state-breds in February 1994. In all, Santagata and Lotta Talc posted a collaborative 8-2-1-3 record.
"Horses like Lottsa Talc improved the New York-bred program and made people interested in it and bringing better stallions here," Santagata said. "She won $1.2 million in those days. She was a hard-trier."
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