Separationofpowers earns berth in BC Juvenile Fillies

ELMONT, N.Y. - Though she showed the immaturity of a young horse, Separationofpowers also showed the ability of a good horse, rallying in the final furlong to win Sunday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths at Belmont Park.

Caledonia Road finished second by 8 1/4 lengths over Maya Malibu in a field of 10 2-year-old fillies that was well strung-out at the finish.

The win was the second from three starts for Separationofpowers, a daughter of Candy Ride owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables and trained by Chad Brown. The victory was a bounce-back performance after a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga, where she got involved in a heated speed duel with Pure Silver.

The win also earned Separationofpowers a fees-paid berth to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar on Nov. 4.

After the opening quarter run in 23.36 seconds, Separationofpowers, under Jose Ortiz, made an early move to perch just outside the front-running tandem of Strategic Dreams and Purrfect Miss, who set ran a half-mile in 46.95 seconds.

Leaving the three-eighths pole, Ortiz began to ask Separationofpowers, but she didn’t immediately respond. Ortiz kept pumping away on Separationofpowers and she began to pick it up. At the eighth pole, Separationofpowers took control and drew clear.

“When I asked her for the first time she didn’t respond; when she was going to pass horses she was a little shy about it,” Ortiz said. “But as soon as she passed the leaders in the stretch she jumped into the bit she went on.”

Brown felt that Separationofpowers had an adverse reaction to the kickback early on.

“It was only her third start, it’s the first time taking dirt - she’s had two clear runs in a row - and I think she learned a lot today,” Brown said. “She gives me the impression she’ll be even better around two turns; she’s certainly bred that way.”

Brown gave praise to Nick de Meric and his team in Ocala, Fla., who purchased Separationofpowers for $190,000 as a yearling and trained her before sending her to Brown earlier this year.

“She came in very well prepared. She learned her lessons back home and has been an easy horse to train from the day she stepped in the barn,” Brown said.

Though trainer Ralph Nicks was pleased with Caledonia Road’s second-place finish, he said she would be more likely to run in either the Demoiselle at Aqueduct or Golden Rod at Churchill than she would the Breeders’ Cup.