Frosty Margarita cuts back to sprint in Key Cents
Frosty Margarita has come up just short of an initial stakes score in each of her last two starts, finishing second both times. On Sunday at Aqueduct, she’ll be favored to break through in the $100,000 Key Cents, a six-furlong stakes for New York-bred 2-year-old fillies.
Frosty Margarita, a Gabrielle Farm homebred trained by Rudy Rodriguez, has a win and three seconds in four starts. In her July debut at Belmont Park, she was second to Wonderment, who won the Lynbrook Stakes by almost seven lengths in her next and most recent start.
Frosty Margarita returned to win a Saratoga maiden race from which the second- and third-place runners both came back to win. Gregorian Gold took the $119,000 Lady Finger Stakes at Finger Lakes, and Flatware won a Belmont maiden race.
Frosty Margarita since has finished second in the Joseph A. Gimma Stakes to Melodic, whom she will face again Sunday, and second in the Maid of the Mist Stakes after being run down late by Sudden Surprise.
Her chief competition in the Key Cents likely will be Melodic and last-out maiden winners Here Comes Rosie and Taken by Surprise.
Key contenders
Frosty Margarita (Last 3 Beyers: 66-58-69)
* Benefits from the turnback in distance from a mile in the Maid of the Mist and seven furlongs in the Gimma.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Frosty Margarita. Trainer Rudy Rodgriguez is 19-2-6-3 with a $1.00 ROI over the past five years going route to sprint with juveniles. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Here Comes Rosie (Last 3 Beyers: 67-54-54)
* Moved up markedly while winning a maiden race by 4 3/4 lengths Oct. 16.
* Trained by Jeremiah Engelhart, expect Here Comes Rosie to come from off the pace. The 67 Beyer Speed Figure she earned in her maiden win is second in Sunday’s race to the 69 that Frosty Margarita earned in her maiden victory.
Taken by Surprise (Last 3 Beyers: 60-50-53)
* Made her first two starts going long on turf. Won her maiden when trainer Todd Pletcher moved her to dirt and cut her back to six furlongs.
Melodic (Last 3 Beyers: 44-64-59)
* Has more ability than she showed last out when she tired to finish seventh in the Maid of the Mist at 5-1. A bullet three-furlong blowout Nov. 15 should have her on her toes.
* Ran by Frosty Margarita in midstretch to win the Gimma by three lengths.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Melodic. Trainer Leah Gyarmati is 57-3-5-12 with a $0.43 ROI over the past five years going route to sprint on dirt. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Surprise Cameo. Trainer Todd Pletcher is 22-8-4-3 with a $2.18 ROI over the past five years going route to sprint on dirt with juveniles. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan