Saratoga: Frosty Bay rallies to win Statue of Liberty

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Considering she had just won a division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Belmont Park - beating four of the same horses she was facing Thursday - Frosty Bay was pretty cold on the tote board for the $100,000 Statue of Liberty division of the stallion stakes.

Frosty Bay, 7-1, warmed the hearts of her backers, however, when, under Javier Castellano, she rallied down the center of a rain-moistened inner turf course to win the Statue of Liberty by two lengths over Image of Noon, the same filly she beat by one length in June.

Palace Dreams, the even-money favorite, finished third.

The win was the fourth from 10 career starts for Frosty Bay, a daughter of the white-hot stallion Frost Giant owned and bred by Robert and Peter Rosenthal and trained by Dominick Schettino. It was Frosty Bay’s third win from four starts since Schettino put blinkers on her back in April.

“She started maturing toward the spring, but the blinkers put the finishing touches on her,” Schettino said.

Despite a modest pace, Castellano was content to keep Frosty Bay near the back of the pack. He called on Frosty Bay approaching the far turn and she rallied wide but unimpeded into the stretch. Image of Noon had struck the front in midstretch under Jose Lezcano, but Frosty Bay swept by her in deep stretch to get the victory.

Frosty Bay covered the mile over yielding turf in 1:37.29 and returned $16.20 to win.

“I felt the pace was slow, but I could see a couple of horses on the lead struggling a little bit, and I knew sooner or later it was going to back up really quick,” Castellano said. “I just wanted to avoid all the traffic. I kept her outside the horses and let her run her race.”