Franco, 31, claimed his fourth year-end title at NYRA after coming out on top in 2018/19 and 2023. This year, Franco, represented by agent John Panagot, scored a pair of meet titles at the Aqueduct racecourse winter (64 wins) and Belmont at the Big A fall (40 wins) meets, winning 19 stakes races at the track.
“It’s amazing,” Franco said. “First of all, I want to thank God for letting me do what I love. I’m just happy to be given the opportunity by all the owners and trainers in New York. My agent, John Panagot, has done a great job and I’m happy to be the leading rider in New York for the fourth time. It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. You have to work hard and that’s what I’ve been doing since I got here. You never take anything for granted.”
Franco’s top victories in New York included six victories led by an onboard conquest Test score in the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) at Saratoga Race Courseand grade 2 continues to gain Crazy mason in the Carter Stakes (G2), Bottas in the Pilgrim Stakes (G2T), and Asbury Park in the Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes (G2T).
“I’m blessed to be in this position right now,” Franco said. “Every horse I ride, I try to get to the wire first. That’s my mentality, day in and day out. There were so many great wins this year, and Test Score at Saratoga was one of them. Every win is special, whether it’s a claim, an allowance or a stake. A win is a win, and I love getting to the wire first.”
Franco finished the year with a NYRA ledger of 206-205-195 from 1,164 starts and earnings of $15,851,470, good for an 18% winning percentage and a 52% in-the-money percentage.
“I’m just going to keep grinding and never stop grinding. I’m going to keep that in mind all the time and keep doing my best,” Franco said of his goals for next year.
Kendrick Carmouche finished second in the year-end rankings with 178 wins, while Flavien Prat finished third with 168 wins.
Trainer Linda Rice set a NYRA single-season record of 165 training wins on December 12 Snide in a girl tilt, taking her total to 172 by the end of the year for a decisive win over second-place Chad Brown (127 wins). Rice, 61, captured three meet training titles this year at Aqueduct Winter (51 wins), Aqueduct Spring (15 wins) and Aqueduct Fall (31 wins).
“2025 was a great year overall. The team really delivered and put in the hours, energy and expertise,” said Rice. “My clients have given me the opportunity to go in different directions and because of that, if they give you the space to make sometimes difficult decisions, you can achieve success.”
Linda Rice
Among Rice’s record wins on the NYRA circuit this year were a pair of stakes scores in the Damon Runyon Stakes with Sand devil and the Say Florida Sandy Stakes with Sheriff Bianco . She also enjoyed great success with claimed horses including Light the way a $40,000 claim in February, having won five of 11 starts since; And Acoustic Ave who was retired in March for $45,000 and has since posted an ultra-consistent 3-4-1 record in nine starts, capped by a second-place finish in the Elite Power Stakes (G3).
Overall, Rice posted a 172-139-120 record from 808 starts, with $9,561,873 in purse earnings for a 21% winning percentage and a 53% in-the-money mark. Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher finished third with 78 wins.
Rice also captured the year-end NYRA owners title with a total of 61 wins and three meet owners titles as he led all owners at Aqueduct Winter (22 wins), Aqueduct Spring (six wins) and Belmont at Big A Fall (10 wins, tie).
“That was a bit of a surprise,” Rice said with a laugh. “I consolidated in New York around 2013 and I think that was a very good move for me.”
As owner, Rice finished the year with a record of 61-45-39 from 273 starts and $2,833,134 in total earnings. Klaravich Stables finished second with 46 wins, while Michael Dubb finished third with 38 wins.
Flavien Prat emerged as the top rider at the Aqueduct autumn competition with 46 wins, including nine stakes wins, five of which were graded.
“It was a very good meeting, and I’m very grateful,” said Prat, who is represented by agent Brad Pegram. “I had good horses to ride and I am grateful to the trainers and connections for those rides. Everything went well.”
Prat also enjoyed a five-win day on November 23, including his onboard victories Oversubscribed in the Forever Together Stakes and Fast market in the Pebbles Stakes (G3T).
Prat, who earned his first New York riding title at the Belmont at the Big A Spring Meet (43 wins), completed the Aqueduct Fall Meet with a record of 46-21-15 from 136 starts and earnings of $3,247,016, good for a 34% winning percentage and a 60% in-the-money percentage.
“It’s been a really good season overall, and obviously I was very happy with winning the spring title (Belmont at the Big A) and this,” Prat said. “It was great.”
Franco finished second with 33 wins, while Kendrick Carmouche finished third with 25.
Rice earned her fourth straight Aqueduct Fall Meet Training title with 31 wins to cap off her record year on the NYRA circuit. Rice said it was satisfying that she broke the NYRA training record after reaching the mark of 165 in 2023, but then lost one win due to a relegation ruling Afleet Arlene of the victory earlier that year.
“(The record) was pretty exciting,” Rice said. “We got there (in 2023) and were tied then, but I think we’ll be safe for a while now. It comes with a little bit of sadness because I raced here at Aqueduct for a long time in the winter and had a lot of great wins and moments with customers here, whether it was for $20,000 or in a stakes race. I’ll be sad when the doors close here, but we’ll hopefully see some exciting things and make new memories at Belmont.”
Rice completed the competition with a record of 24-31-23 in 139 starts and earnings of $1,788,075, good for a 22% winning percentage and a 56% in-the-money percentage. Chad Brown finished second with 19 wins and Tom Morley finished third with 10 wins.
Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables won its 31st owner’s title on the NYRA circuit and posted 10 wins in the fall competition, including six stakes scores.
Klaravich Stables completed the meet with a 10-2-2 record in 20 starts and $877,183 in earnings.
Live racing will resume at Aqueduct on January 1 with an eight-race card for the opening day of the winter meeting. First post is 12:40 Eastern.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
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