Separationofpowers look to ace Saturday’s G1 Longines Test

By Brian Bohl —-

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Klaravich Stables’ Separationofpowers will look to return to the impressive form she displayed as a juvenile on Saturday when she competes in the 93rd running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Test for 3-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course.

One of five stakes on a packed card that is highlighted by the Grade 1, $1.2 million Whitney, the Test, carded as Race 8, will be shown nationally on NBCSN, which will air live coverage from the Spa from 5-6 p.m. ET. The NBCSN broadcast will follow Saratoga Live on FS2, which airs from 2:30-5 pm.

Separationofpowers will be returning to the track where she won her debut in July 2017 and finished third in her first stakes start, coming in behind Maya Malibu and Lady Ivanka as the beaten favorite in the Grade 1 Spinaway on September 2. The Chad Brown trainee took a step up when she posted a 3 ½-length score in the Grade 1 Frizette on October 8 at Belmont Park before capping her campaign with a fourth-place effort in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on November 4 at Del Mar.

Off an eight-month layoff, the Candy Ride filly got caught wide in her first start of her sophomore year, finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Victory Ride on July 8 at Belmont. She will now be running at the Test distance of seven furlongs for the first time since the Frizette, in which she earned a personal-best 86 Beyer Speed Figure.

“She’s doing really well coming in, so we’ll send her in and see what happens,” Brown said. “She had a terrible break last time and stumbled. It was a tough trip, but she got the race she needed. Hopefully she moves forward off that first start of the year and runs a big race in the Test.”

Jose Ortiz will have the call from post 6.

Her stablemate, Alter Moon, made all seven of her previous starts at Gulfstream Park, including her first stakes win in the Azalea on June 30. With three wins and two second-place finishes in her career, she will make her first appearance outside of the Sunshine State, drawing post 3 with Hall of Famer Javier Castellano.

Mia Mischief has already registered a graded stakes win this year, earning a 97 Beyer for her 1 ¾-length gate-to-wire win in the Grade 2 Eight Belles on May 4 at Churchill Downs.

The Into Mischief filly’s only off the board finish in eight starts was in her last effort, when she overcame a brush with eventual winner Dixie Serenade before going to the front before eventually tiring in finishing fifth in the Victory Ride. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Mia Mischief will make her first Saratoga appearance, drawing post 7 with Ricardo Santana, Jr. aboard.

Kelly’s Humor will be hoping a distance cutback is beneficial after running third in the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks at 1 1/16 miles on July 14 at Indiana Grand Race Course. That effort followed a second-place finish against optional claimers at seven furlongs on June 1 at Churchill, which provided the daughter of Midnight Lute an easier landing spot after finishing eighth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 4 at Churchill, her home base.

“We’re shortening her back up, but she came out of the Indiana race in good order,” trainer Brad Cox said. “She had a decent work at Churchill last week. We’re hoping they’ll be some pace in there. We’ve run at seven-eighths twice this year and she’s plenty fit, so hopefully the turnback will help her out.”

Kelly’s Humor ended her sophomore year with four straight graded stakes start, finishing second in the Grade 2 Pocahontas in September at Churchill. After getting more than four months off, she returned to run second in the Grade 3 Beaumont on April 8 at Keeneland, setting her up for the Kentucky Oaks. After the “Run for the Liles,” Cox said he wanted to give a softer landing spot before ramping backing up for a Grade 1 bid.

“She didn’t perform as well in the Oaks as we thought, so we wanted to try and pick off a Grade 3 or a Grade 2 before running back here, but this race came up,” he said. “At seven-eighths of a mile, we wanted to give it a [try]. She’s training well, so we expect her to run well.”

Jockey Joel Rosario picks up the mount from the outside post 9.

Classy Act also struggled in the Kentucky Oaks, finishing 10th, but has come back strong for trainer Bret Calhoun, winning an optional claimer on June 1 at Churchill and finishing second by a neck to Dixie Serenade in the Victory Ride.

Like Mia Mischief, Classy Act is also sired by Into Mischief, and the Kentucky bred has become more comfortable at Saratoga as he gets ready for his first start on the historic track, according to his conditioner.

“She got a tough beat in the Victory Ride, it looked like she was the best horse, but she shipped straight from Belmont up here and has settled in,” Cox said. “She proved that she can fit with [this] group in the Victory Ride.”

Jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. will be in the irons from post 4.

Minit to Stardom is a perfect 3-for-3 entering her first graded stakes start. Trainer Al Stall, Jr. said she has been training well since arriving from Kentucky and that the distance should be favorable after she won an optional claimer by 6 ¼ lengths on May 27 at Churchill in her 3-year-old bow. Her three victories have come by a combined 18 ¾ lengths.

“This will be a monster class/acid test for her, but we don’t have a Plan B,” Stall said. “We’re not going to stretch her out just yet. We’re excited to see how she does.”

The Brittlyn Stable’s Louisiana homebred will have the services of jockey Corey Lanerie from post 8.

Rounding out the field is Cathedral Reader, making her stakes debut, for trainer Dallas Stewart; Spectator, sixth in the Victory Ride last out, for trainer Michelle Nevin; and the Uriah St. Lewis-trained Norma’s Charm, who ran second in the Alma North before running eighth in the Victory Ride.