With a strong drive toward the wire, Separationofpowers was not going to be denied in the $400,000 Frizette Stakes (G1) Oct. 8.
The daughter of Candy Ride , under jockey Jose Ortiz, stalked in third and then moved three-wide around the leaders on the turn before she kicked away for a 3 1/2-length win.
Klaravich Stables' filly looked like a standout in her debut, when she won by 11 3/4 lengths in a six-furlong maiden event at Saratoga Race Course July 30. She went off as the favorite in her next start, the seven-furlong Spinaway Stakes (G1), but weakened to finish third after engaging in a speed duel with Pure Silver. Sunday's one-mile event at Belmont Park was the first graded win for the filly.
"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," he added of the filly who was purchased by de Meric for $190,000 as a weanling at the 2015 Keeneland November sale. "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."
In the Frizette, Strategic Dreams jumped to lead the field of 10 juvenile fillies, as Purrfect Miss was a close second and Separationofpowers stalked in third, just outside the front two. With Strategic Dreams in front, the field moved through fractions of :23.26, :46.95, and 1:11.88 for six furlongs.
Separationofpowers inched up to engage the leaders around the turn and moved around them coming into the stretch. Finding a new gear, the filly easily kicked away in the stretch to complete the race in a final time of 1:38.66. Caledonia Road, who raced near the rear of the field early on, followed Separationofpowers in the stretch, but wasn't able to keep up and settled for second. Maya Malibu finished 8 1/4 lengths back in third.
"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," Ortiz said of his winning ride. "I put her in the clear and we went three-wide the whole way. We went easy—:46. 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."
The winner returned $5.90, $3.80, and $2.80 across the board.
Purrfect Miss, Strategic Dreams, Critique, Go, Wall of Compassion, Teen Angel, and Drama Run completed the order of finish.
Bred by Northwest Farms, out of the winning Empire Maker mare Shehadmefromhello, Separationofpowers improved her record to two wins and one third from three starts with earnings of $324,800.
The Frizette is a "Win and You're In" race for the 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) Nov. 4 at Del Mar. Brown said he thinks his filly will be a threat around two turns at the 1 1/16-mile distance.
"We're confident (going to the Breeders' Cup)," the trainer said. "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."
