Schosberg to Retire From Training After 35 Years

After 35 years training horses in New York, Rick Schosberg will retire at the end of this year.

"It's time," he said, who will turn 62 in December. "This has been in the back of my mind for a long time."

A variety of factors led to his decision, including his involvement over the last decade in Thoroughbred retirement and aftercare. He sits on the board of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Association and serves as president of both TAKE2 and Take The Lead, retirement programs established by the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, where he serves as first vice president. 

"I'm a little burned out," he admitted. "And I'm really passionate about retirement initiatives. We've come such a long way over the last decade, but there's so much more to do." 

A graduate of Cornell University with a bachelor of science degree in agricultural economics, Schosberg was born into a racing family. His late father Paul and his mother Jane owned Pine Lane Farm in Westchester County, N.Y., and Paul served on the board of directors of New York Thoroughbred Breeders for 12 years, twice being elected the organization's president. His family bred and raced horses for decades, and though Schosberg's father was a successful politician and banker, it was the racetrack to which Schosberg gravitated.

"I was a groom for Walter Kelley when I was in high school," he reminisced. "I told him I wanted to train horses, and he said, 'You dumb sumbitch, you're getting an Ivy League education. Go be a doctor, don't be a lawyer. Don't do this. It's a hard way to make a bad living.'" 

Undaunted, Schosberg went on to work for Sid Watters and Tommy Skiffington before going out on his own. His first winner was Three Chopt Road at Belmont Park on Sept. 4, 1988. Five years later, he earned his first graded stakes win with Sovereign Kitty in the Tempted Stakes (G3).

Schosberg had attended high school with the daughter of Lloyd Bensen, who had gotten involved in racing as a partner in Dogwood Stable.

"He saw that we were winning a couple of races, so he came to see me," said Schosberg.

"He said, 'I've known you a long time and I trust you. Buy me some horses.' That started Heatherwood Farm." 

Among the horses Schosberg purchased for Bensen was As Indicated, who won nine out of 14 races for them, including the Gotham Stakes (G2), the Aqueduct Handicap (G3), and the Pimlico Special Handicap (G1). The latter two were part of a six-race winning streak that stretched from November 1993 to May 1994.

"Everyone talks about Rick's work on the backstretch," said Joe Appelbaum, president of NYTHA. "But this guy knows how to train horses. When he had a 2-year-old debuting at Saratoga, you knew you had to pay attention."  

Appelbaum also pointed to Affirmed Success, who earned nearly $2.3 million in 42 races for Schosberg. Bred and owned by Al Fried Jr., Affirmed Success won eight graded stakes races, including the Cigar Mile and the Vosburgh (both G1). In 1995, he trained Maria's Mon to an Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old male on the strength of wins in the Sanford Stakes (G3), the Futurity Stakes (G1), and the Moet Champagne Stakes (G1).

"He's an amazing trainer, especially for a guy who played football at Cornell," joked Appelbaum, who played football at Yale University.

Tony Garramone galloped for Schosberg for 21 years and was the regular rider for Maria's Mon and grade 1 winner Mossflower.

"We were on the same page when it came to horses," Garramone said. "(Schosberg) was very conscientious and he really cared about horses. Nobody loves horses the way he does, and you can see it in what he's doing with retiring horses now.

"I had a great experience working for him, especially because of how much he loved the business and the horses."

Over the last 15 years, Schosberg has teamed up with Clear Stars Stable, founded by Michael Sternklar. In August, Clear Stars celebrated a win in the Albany Stakes at Saratoga Race Course with Bossmakinbossmoves , owned in partnership with Schosberg and another long-time client, Mitre Box Stable.

"How do I even put it into words?" said Sternklar of his relationship with Schosberg. "He's an amazing trainer and a better person. You can't separate those two with Rick... he taught me everything about how you be both successful and true to your horses and the people in the game. We won almost 100 races together, but we never compromised our commitment to the animals and the people on the backstretch. That's why he's had people who have worked for him for so long."

One of those long-time employees is Maureen Taylor, who was Schosberg's foreperson for nearly 15 years before retiring several years ago.

"He thought so much about his horses' well-being and about the people on his staff," she said. "He couldn't do enough for us or our families. When we had problems with our kids, he'd tell us to go take care of it. When I had a dog that was really sick, he wrote a check to help pay for it.

"Before I got to know him, I thought he was a grumpy son-of-a-gun," she continued. "It was just that he was all business when he was training, and outside of training, he's a different guy."

"Rick is a social conscience of the backstretch," said Appelbaum. "He's a leader on the backside and in the training community. He's there every single day and he understands what needs to get done in terms of horse welfare. There's no better advocate for trainers, horses, and backstretch workers."

Schosberg is adamant that he is not leaving the racing industry and he hopes to maintain an office on the backstretch at Belmont Park so that he can continue his work with Take The Lead, which oversees the retirement and placement of horses on New York's backstretches. Since its inception in 2012, Take The Lead has retired nearly 1,000 horses. 

"I'm thrilled to know that he's still going to be part of the aftercare programs," said Andy Belfiore, executive director of TAKE2 and Take The Lead. "We couldn't do what we do without him. He's such a good guy and such a good horseman, and his retirement will be a loss to the backstretch." 

He has also appeared on America's Day at the Races, the New York Racing Association's broadcast on Fox Sports, as a racing analyst, and he hopes to have more TV opportunities once his training responsibilities end. 

He has also taken on additional roles in his family's business since the death of his father in 2017 and the death of his sister in 2020. 

"I'd like to be able to spend more time with my mother," he said, noting that the move from Belmont Park to Aqueduct Racetrack this fall has significantly increased his commuting time. "The days are long: I'm up before 4 a.m. and I get home late. It's exhausting.

"I've had a wonderful career. I've met incredible people and I've had the support of so many terrific owners.

"I'm not leaving," he added. "I'm just going to get a little more sleep."