It seems improbable that Ways and Means only scored her first stakes win in the Grade 1 Test Stakes, in August 2024 at Saratoga. The filly was so well regarded for so long. But that gratifying win became one of a pair of graded stakes scores last season, along with some gallant efforts in defeat, which helped make the 3-year-old filly a finalist for the Eclipse Award as outstanding female sprinter.
Ways and Means is a homebred for Klaravich Stables and a daughter of Practical Joke, who also campaigned in that stable’s colors. She is trained by Chad Brown, who also handled her sire, who was game around two turns but at his best at one turn, a pattern his daughter would come to follow.
Ways and Means announced herself with a 12 3/4-length debut victory on Aug. 6, 2023, at Saratoga. She followed that up with a gutsy half-length second to Brightwork in the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes, emerging from that gallant run with an injury that sent her to the sidelines.
Ways and Means made her first start in nearly seven months, and first around two turns, in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, and after an adventurous trip, finished a creditable second to Power Squeeze, who went on to be a Grade 1 winner this season. That earned Ways and Means a trip to the Longines Kentucky Oaks, where, in just her second start off the layoff, she raced in contention before fading to fourth on the sloppy, sealed track behind Horse of the Year favorite Thorpedo Anna.
:: Full list of 2024 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories
Ways and Means returned to the winner’s circle with an 8 1/4-length win against allowance company five weeks later, going a mile at Saratoga. It was then time to put her to the Test, on Aug. 3, nearly a year to the day after her debut. Running on a muddy, sealed track, Ways and Means cleared off late to win the seven-furlong race by 2 1/2 lengths over Emery and My Mane Squeeze, a pair of consistent fillies who between them have eight stakes wins, including three graded stakes wins in 2024.
“We always knew she was a true Grade 1 horse and has had some bad luck along the way,” Brown said after the win. “She really showed a lot of heart and perseverance to overcome her injury last year and she dealt with a sealed track today, too. . . . That Kentucky Oaks when it had a wet track was a little tough to figure out. It was a mile and an eighth and I really think she breezed too fast the week before the race and she ran into a monster horse. It was unclear to me whether or not she could run on a wet track off that race. Cutting back has been key for her. She definitely has an affinity for one-turn races and Saratoga. . . . Really her only defeat at Saratoga was in the Spinaway, when she had a ton of trouble, clipped heels, and actually got seriously injured in the race. Fortunately, she was able to come back from it.”
Ways and Means then won the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom Stakes at Aqueduct by four lengths over older runners, making her the favorite for the PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Del Mar. She finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup, but was beaten just 1 1/4 lengths after taking some contact.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.