Oct 8, 2017
Chelsea Durand Photo
Separationofpowers Breeders' Cup bound with G1 Frizette victory
by Najja Thompson
Making her first start since a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga, Klaravich Stables' Separationofpowers rebounded to win the 70th running of the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette on Sunday at Belmont Park, earning an all-fees-paid berth to the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 4 at Del Mar.
Breaking from post 4 as the 9-5 post time favorite with Jose Ortiz aboard, Separationofpowers stalked comfortably from fourth position as Strategic Dreams set fractions of 23.26 seconds for the opening quarter-mile. With the half-mile going in 46.95, the leader remained in front, closely pressured by Purrfect Miss to her outside and Maya Malibu on the rail.
Making her move toward the leaders at the three-eighths pole, Separationofpowers was sent three-wide as the field reached the quarter-pole. Fully extended at the top of the stretch, Separationofpowers surpassed Strategic Dreams and Purrfect Miss in the late stretch to comfortably secure the victory by 3 ½ lengths.
Returning $5.90 for a $2 win wager, she completed the one mile distance in a final time of 1:38.66.
"She broke really well and I had an opportunity to put her in the clear early and I think that was the key to win the race," said Ortiz. "I put her in the clear and we went three-wide the whole way. We went easy, 46 [seconds]. The track is a little slow so I don't pay attention to the 1:38 [final time]. She's a little green when she's around horses, but once she passed them, she jumped in the bit and gave me everything she had."
Earning her first graded stakes win and second victory from three career starts, the daughter of Candy Ride boosted her career earnings to $324,800.
"My staff deserves a lot of the credit," said winning trainer Chad Brown. "She drew the rail in the Spinaway. She had gone wire-to-wire in her debut, so she was kind of forced. She's always trained kind in the morning and she's a real easy horse to be around.
"A lot of credit goes to Nick de Meric in Ocala. Him and his team broke her and prepared her for us. She's been a real easy horse to train since she's come in. She learned her lessons well in Ocala.
Looking towards the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, Brown was optimistic she would be able to handle two-turns for the 1 1/16 mile distance
"We're confident," added Brown. "I know it's a tough division, there's some horses out West who look very good. This horse always gave us the impression she would be better around two turns. You look at her pedigree and you look at her physically, how much she's grown through the course of this summer, I'm excited to get her around two turns."
A late-closing Caledonia Road earned second-place honors, followed by Maya Malibu, Purrfect Miss, Strategic Dreams, Critique, Go, Wall of Compassion, Teen Angel and Drama Run to complete the order of finish.
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