SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Ways and Means became a Grade 1 winner for the first time and did so in style, edging away to a 2 1/2-length victory over Emery in Saturday’s $500,000 Test Stakes at Saratoga in a race decided over a sealed and muddy racetrack.
The seven-furlong Test was to feature a rematch between Brightwork and Ways and Means, who finished first and second respectively here 11 months ago in the Grade 1 Spinaway. Unfortunately that meeting will have to wait for another day as Brightwork reared up and flipped in the paddock prior to the race, landing on her side, resulting in minor abrasions, after which she was scratched by the track veterinarians as a precaution.
The absence of Brightwork also altered the pace scenario of the Test, with Ways and Means first to show in front following an alert beginning under jockey Flavien Prat. Emery quickly engaged Ways and Means and gained a short advantage along the rail that she maintained in the run down the backstretch. Ways and Means re-engaged for command on the turn, edged away when sharply roused at the top of the stretch and was never seriously menaced thereafter while kept under a strong hand ride to the wire.
Emery, who came into the Test having captured her previous three starts, including the Grade 3 Victory Ride last month at Aqueduct, fought on gamely once relinquishing command to the winner, edging clear of My Mane Squeeze in late stretch to be clearly second-best. Denim and Pearls and Belle’s Blue Bell completed the order of finish.
The win was the third in six starts for Ways and Means, who handled the wet track with no problem after having finished a tiring fourth, beaten 10 1/2 lengths by Thorpedo Anna, over a sloppy strip at Churchill Downs earlier this season in the Kentucky Oaks.
Ways and Means, a Klaravich Stables homebred by Practical Joke trained by Chad Brown, completed the distance in 1:22.28 seconds and paid $3.40 and was given a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
Brown said he wasn’t sure what to expect of Ways and Means over the sealed track in the Test.
“That Kentucky Oaks is a tough one to figure out,” Brown noted. “Obviously it was raining and a wet track but it was a mile and one eighth, I thought she breezed too fast a week before the race and she ran into a monster horse in the winner. So it wasn’t clear to me she couldn’t run on a wet track because of what she showed in the Oaks.”
Brown also praised Prat, who has been aboard Ways and Means for all three of her wins, for being aggressive right from the start.
“Flavien gets along so well with her and I thought he did well to assert himself early, and from there she really had no excuse with that trip,” Brown said. “Cutting back to this one-turn distance has been key for her. She definitely has an affinity for one-turn races and Saratoga. Her only defeat here came when she was in a ton of trouble in the Spinaway, where she clipped heels and actually got seriously injured in the race. She’s just all class and showed a lot of heart and perseverance to overcome her injury. I always knew she was a true Grade 1 horse. She really deserved this day.”
Trainer Brad Cox said he was pleased with Emery’s effort, giving her the first Grade 1 placing of her still-brief career.
“I thought Tyler (Gaffalione) did a good job not letting the winner get away early,” said Cox, who also sent out Denim and Pearls to finish fourth in the Test. “She kind of backed out of it a little bit, she may have been a little uncomfortable down on the inside. When he got her straightened away and outside, she kind of re-rallied and fought on for second. Overall, I’m happy with her performance.”
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