Louis Linder, Jr., has spent most of the past four months trying to get Ourdaydreaminggirl back to her form of a year ago, when she earned $222,800 and just missed winning the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes.

The next step in those efforts takes place Saturday at Monmouth Park, when the 4-year-old filly takes on six other distaffers in the $100,000 Serena’s Song Stakes.

“We’re still very high on her,” said the veteran Parx-based trainer. “The winter was tough on her. She just kind of tailed off a little bit and we’re trying to build her back for mid-summer on. That’s when the big money comes into play.”

After hitting the board in five of her seven starts as a 3-year-old, in a campaign that saw her finish third in the Grade 1 Cotillion, fifth in the Grade 2 Mother Goose and third in the Grade 3 Comely Stakes, Ourdaydreaminggirl is 0-for-3 this year.

The Kentucky-bred daughter of Instagrand returned this year with a third-place finish in the Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct before last-place finishes in the Top Flight Stakes and the Grade 2 Baird Doubledogdare Stakes Keeneland in her last start on April 17.

Linder was hoping for a softer spot for this start, but with Hall of famer trainer Todd Pletcher entering Waveless, five-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown represented by Lost Horizon and an entry (Domino Vitali) from Jorge Delgado, Monmouth Park’s leading trainer a year ago, the mile and 70 feature came up a lot more competitive than Linder expected.

“I just thought this would be a good spot for her,” he said. “But when you’re in stakes company it’s never going to be easy.”

Last Saturday, Linder shipped in Star Sweeper from Parx for the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park, with the colt falling short of winning by a head to the Brown-trained Hedge Ratio.

“I was thrilled with his race,” said Linder. “He’s a horse to keep an eye on. He’s a slow-growing horse but you can see him improving.”

Ourdaydreaminggirl, meanwhile, will be looking to snap a seven-race losing streak – a drought impacted by the strong company she has been keeping.

“I don’t think she is where I want her to be yet, to the point where she was last year,” said Linder. “But she is battling her way back. It’s not just her. A lot of horses find the winter to be brutal and it takes a toll on them. She had a good race to start the year but then she bounced. Then we made her ship to Keeneland and back and it wasn’t the best thing for her.

“This race is the first step to get her back and ready for the summer.”

Though Ourdaydreaminggirl has established herself as a closer in routes, she did press the pace at seven furlongs in her first start this year before tiring.

“I think she has tactical speed, even though her best races were when she came from behind,” said Linder, who has been training since 1977. “We ran her seven-eighths in New York (in the Interborough) because she missed so much training and I didn’t want to go a mile and an eighth and she was dogging the leaders every step of the way. She just got a little tired, which I kind of expected. Then she bounced and now we’re at this point with her, trying to get her back to form.

“But we will always take a little speed duel in front of us with her. Not having her do to much turning for home would be ideal in this race.”

Angel Rodriguez, who has ridden her to a pair of third-place finishes, will have the mount.

First race post time on Saturday for Monmouth Park’s eight-race card is 12:50, though gates will open at 10 a.m. with the first race from Laurel for the Preakness Stakes card going at 10:30 a.m.