SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Ways and Means was good at 2, even better at 3, and if her performance Friday at Saratoga in the $300,000 Bed o’ Roses is any indication, her 4-year-old campaign is going to be her best yet.
Making just her second start of the season and first on a fast track, Ways and Means exploded through the stretch to score a convincing 7 3/4-length victory over Scylla in the Grade 2 Bed o’ Roses. It was another 6 1/4 lengths further back to Jody’s Pride, who finished a well-beaten third.
The win was the fifth in 10 career outings for Ways and Means, a Klaravich Stables homebred daughter of Practical Joke. Her record includes a 2 1/2-length victory here 10 months ago in the Grade 1 Test. The Bed o’ Roses was her fourth tally in five starts at Saratoga.
With regular rider Flavien Prat aboard, Ways and Means broke alertly and rated just off the early pace of the speedy Irish Maxima through opening splits of 22.46 seconds for the quarter and 45.16 to the half. She moved three wide to gain command while challenged briefly by Scylla to her inside entering the stretch but darted away from that rival in a flash and steadily increased her advantage while kept under encouragement to the end.
Scylla finished a neck in front of Ways and Means in the pair’s first meeting when fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint last November. In the Bed o’ Roses, she moved to closer contention while saving ground leaving the backstretch and around the turn. She bumped briefly with the tiring Irish Maxima while joining for command at the top of the stretch but proved no match for the winner through the final three-sixteenths while easily second best.
Jody’s Pride was fanned three wide off the turn, angled down to the rail for the stretch run and outlasted Miss Justify for the show award while never threatening the top pair at any point. Irish Maxima weakened steadily to be fifth, and was followed by Justique and St. Benedicts Prep.
Trained by Chad Brown, Ways and Means sizzled seven furlongs over a fast track in 1:21.11 and returned $3. The 111 Beyer Speed Figure she earned is not only a career best, but the top Beyer earned by any horse so far this year.
“The horse is doing super,” Brown said. “It was her second start off a layoff, she caught a muddy track at Churchill and ran into a couple of good horses over there. But now that she had a race under her belt and caught a track she loves, a dry racetrack, she was back on top of her game today.”
Brown admitted he was a little concerned when his filly was joined by Scylla turning into the stretch.
“I was confident [coming into the race], she was training really well, but on that final turn there she was catching a lot of pressure between horses and that other filly [Scylla], who is a really nice horse, was closer today and getting a nice ground-saving trip.
“I thought it might be quite a showdown in the middle of the stretch but she did burst away from her, which was impressive.”
Brown said the Grade 1 Ballerina here on Aug. 23 is his next major goal for Ways and Means but indicated he would look to run her once in the interim.
“The Ballerina is very late in the season, so we’ll have to figure out what to do with her before then,” Brown said.
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