A field of 10 two-year-old fillies will line up on Sunday at Belmont Park for the $400,000 Frizette Stakes (G1) going a one-turn mile. The contest is part of the “Win & You’re In” Challenge series and is offering up an all-fees paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) on November 4 at Del Mar.
Only three – Maya Malibu, Separationofpowers and Wall of Compassion – of the 10 runners have prior stakes experience and will try to parlay that previous practice into victory in the Frizette.
Both Maya Malibu and Separationofpowers are exiting the September 2 Spinaway Stakes (G1) at Saratoga while Wall of Compassion was last seen in the August 12 Adirondack Stakes (G2) at the Spa.
Maya Malibu just missed by three parts of a length in the Spinaway at 12-1. The Graham Motion-trained lass entered that seven-furlong affair off a six-length maiden debut win at Delaware Park one month earlier. Javier Castellano was aboard for the Malibu Moon filly’s stakes bow and retains the mount here.
Separationofpowers ended up 3 1/4 lengths behind Maya Malibu in third in the Spinaway as the 3-5 favorite. The Chad Brown pupil earned favoritism in the race after breaking her maiden at first asking by 11 lengths on July 30 at the Spa. Regular rider Jose Ortiz has the call for the Frizette.
“She’s been training particularly well here at Belmont,” Brown said. “She recovered from that grueling effort in the Spinaway. She’s come out of it well and she’s going to appreciate going longer. I never felt that she was a sprinter. She trains very kind in the morning.”
Wall of Compassion also finished third in her stakes bow for trainer Rudy Rodriguez. The Jimmy Creed filly took an off-the-turf maiden at Belmont Park on July 7 by a nose, then was 10 lengths behind the winner when third in the Adirondack last out. Joel Rosario will be aboard the bay miss for the first time Sunday.
Critique has competed in two off-the-turf races thus far, finishing second on August 13 and romping by 16 lengths in her most recent effort on September 4. Both of those came at Saratoga for trainer Todd Pletcher, who will give jockey John Velazquez a leg up as the Midnight Lute filly makes her stakes bow in this spot.
“She’s a filly where we always felt like she’d appreciate more distance so that’s why we entered her in the turf at Saratoga,” Pletcher explaind. “Both times the races came off (the turf) and we thought she performed well. We’re looking forward to getting her stretched out a little bit more, so I think the mile distance should be a step in the right direction.”
Strategic Dreams was a double-digit maiden winner at Saratoga for Rodriguez, taking her debut in a maiden claimer on August 24 by 14 lengths. The Jeremiah Englehart-trained Purrfect Miss and Ralph Nicks-conditioned Caledonia Road were also easy maiden winners at Saratoga, scoring by 3 1/4 lengths and 2 3/4 lengths, respectively. Drama Run posted a 3 3/4-length debut victory over Arlington Park’s Polytrack on September 9 for trainer Anthony Quartarolo.
Completing the Frizette field are Go, seeking her first win here after a runner-up effort in her debut at Ellis Park on September 3, and Teen Angel, who is making her racing bow in this spot.
