Separationofpowers goes all the way in Bed o' Roses

ELMONT, N.Y. – A pair of adjustments that trainer Chad Brown made, one in regard to training, one in regard to the race, added up to an easy victory for Separationofpowers in the Grade 3, $245,000 Bed o’ Roses Invitational for older female sprinters on Friday at Belmont Park.

Separationofpowers dropped her rider during training on Tuesday morning and ran off for several furlongs before being collared by an outrider, which resulted in Brown deciding to merely jog Separationofpowers on Wednesday and Thursday mornings instead of her usual gallop.

That left her fresh and eager to go, and when he recognized a track that seemed to promote speed on Friday, Brown made sure to tell jockey Jose Ortiz to put himself in a prominent position in the early going.

Separationofpowers made it easier for Ortiz by breaking like a shot from the outside stall in the field of six. She went right to the front and improved her position from there, romping by 4 3/4 lengths over even-money favorite Chalon, who had the track profile against her but got up for second.

Dawn the Destroyer ran on for third, 1 1/2 lengths behind Chalon, then came, in order, Pacific Gale, Spring in the Wind, and Mybigitalianfriend. Saguaro Row was scratched Friday morning, reducing the field from its original seven.

Separationofpowers ($7.80), the second choice, set fractions of 22.49 seconds for the quarter, 45.04 seconds for the half, and 1:08.62 for six furlongs en route to a final time of 1:21.46 for seven furlongs on the fast main track.

“She took advantage of a sharp break,” Brown said. “She put herself there. I told Jose to go to the front, or at the very least sit second if someone was hellbent on the lead.”

Separationofpowers has proven herself a top-class performer around one turn. She won the Grade 1 Frizette going one mile at Belmont Park as a 2-year-old, and last year, at age 3, captured the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga going seven furlongs.

The Bed o’ Roses was her second start following a lengthy layoff to remove an ankle chip following the Test. She finished third in the Grade 3 Vagrancy on May 11 in her first start in more than seven months.

“She got a lot out of her last race. She really moved forward,” Brown said.

Separationofpowers, 4, is a daughter of Candy Ride who is owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables Inc. She has now won four times in nine starts, and the $137,500 she earned on Friday brought her career earnings to $934,000.