Rodriguez fillies back quick in Saratoga Dew

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – If the Saratoga Dew Stakes had gone on Monday, when it was originally scheduled, trainer Rudy Rodriguez would have two fewer victories on his résumé.

Friday, when the $100,000 Saratoga Dew will be run at Saratoga, Rodriguez plans to run both Frostie Anne and Frosty Margarita back in less than a week.

On Sunday at Saratoga, Frostie Anne won an open-company allowance that had been scheduled for the turf but that was transferred to the main track. The victory was Frostie Anne’s fifth straight.

On Monday at Finger Lakes, Frosty Margarita won the Jack Betta Be Rite Stakes by two lengths, her eighth win in 30 starts.

On Wednesday, Rodriguez said he planned to run both on Friday.

Rodriguez said both fillies had easy races and that were both intended for the Saratoga Dew, which is restricted to New York-bred fillies and mares.

Rodriguez said Frostie Anne will use her speed to try and wire the field like she has in her three previous starts. Frosty Margarita, Rodriguez said, will sit back and try to make a run as he believes the 1 1/8 miles might be “too far” for her.

The horse to beat in the Saratoga Dew may be Land Mine, a half-sister to 2017 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Bar of Gold.

Land Mine, by Mineshaft, has won 3 of 4 starts on dirt since being stretched out in distance by trainer Phil Serpe. She finished second to Alberobello in an open-company allowance race on July 26, her first start since having a chip surgically removed from a knee over the winter.

“I couldn’t get a race to go at Belmont in the spring,” Serpe said. “She was really ready at Belmont. I thought she ran a good race against a very tough filly in her last start.”

Serpe also entered Held Accountable, but he may scratch her and run her in the $200,000 Fleet Indian Stakes, restricted to 3-year-old fillies, on Aug. 24

Verdant Pastures, who won the Empire Distaff last October, has been training well as she attempts to bounce back from a seventh-place finish in the Critical Eye Stakes at Belmont in May.