Chelsea Durand Photo

Kid Is Frosty home and cooled out in NYSSS Statue of Liberty

by NYRA Press Office

Bad Boy Racing's Kid Is Frosty found the lead and never looked back en route to a three-length score in Wednesday's $150,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series Statue of Liberty division at Saratoga Race Course.

Trained by Brad Cox, Kid Is Frosty entered the one-mile circuit of the inner turf for 3-year-old daughters of eligible New York stallions from a narrow neck score over Statue of Liberty rival Niko's Dream on June 23 at Belmont Park in the NYSSS Cupecoy's Joy.

Sent to post as the 8-5 second choice under Irad Ortiz, Jr., Kid Is Frosty led the seven-horse field over the turf course rated good through splits of 24.37 seconds and 48.18, as Bangle Gal stalked from second with Niko's Dream, the 7-5 post-time favorite under Junior Alvarado, perched outside of Sterling Beauty in fourth position.

Bangle Gal turned up the pressure on Kid Is Frosty into the final turn, but the pacesetter spurted clear and continued to command the field, opening up a 2 1/2-length lead at the stretch call.

Niko's Dream, a rallying runner-up in the Cupecoy's Joy, took aim at the frontrunner down the lane but could not reel in his rival and again settled for second best as Kid Is Frosty stopped the clock in 1:35.22.

Kid Is Frosty remains undefeated in two starts on the turf, which assistant trainer Dustin Dugas said may be her best surface.

"I think she feels at home on the turf. I was a little concerned about making the mile today, but she was never in doubt," said Dugas. "The plan was to play the break and go from there. I thought that [Mark] Casse's horse [Subsidiary, No. 4] would've shown a little more speed, to be honest. I thought she was going to be on the lead but once our horse got to the front, she kicked on and was comfortable the entire way."

Ortiz, Jr. concurred with Dugas that Kid Is Frosty has taken a step forward since moving to the turf.

"The main thing was to relax her and when she broke, she relaxed going into the first turn," he said. "On the backside, she was still relaxed. I knew I was going to have something at the end, and she handled it really well.

"It's a little soft [the turf], but last time I rode her, I had to make a middle move and she still won. I had a lot of confidence in her today," he added. "If I had a clear trip and waited and just move at the quarter pole, I knew she was going to be the best and everything worked out well. She's much better on turf. She has a turn-of-foot on turf, so I think she's a little better on that."

Sterling Beauty, Rossellini, Dancing Slippers, Bangle Gal and Subsidiary rounded out the order of finish. Newly Minted, a main-track only entrant, was scratched.

Alvarado said a firmer turf course could benefit Niko's Joy if the two rivals meet again.

"I thought she ran a very good race. Maybe the way the track was could've helped the winner," said Alvarado. "She's very talented and beat us last time. I think we still ran a decent race, but she'd appreciate it a little more firm."

A homebred daughter of Frost Giant, Kid Is Frosty banked $82,500 in victory while improving her record to 3-4-2 from nine starts. She paid $5.20 for a $2 win ticket.

Live racing resumes on Thursday at Saratoga with a 10-race card, highlighted by the $100,000 Birdstone. First post is 1 p.m.