Odds-on Favorite Ways and Means Secures Grade 1 Victory in Test Stakes
Saratoga Race Course, NY – August 3, 2024
Odds-on favorite Ways and Means became the newest Grade 1 winner in horse racing on Saturday, securing a sharp victory in the $500,000 Test Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at the prestigious Saratoga meet.
Ridden by jockey Flavien Prat, Ways and Means (3-5) broke alertly from the gate but soon found company on the front end from Emery (4-1) and Tyler Gaffalione. The duo set a contested pace of 22.43 and 44.54 seconds for the opening half-mile.
At the top of the stretch, Ways and Means decisively shook off Emery and cruised home unchallenged, stopping the clock in a final time of 1:22.28 over the muddy track. Trained by Chad Brown, the sophomore daughter of Practical Joke paid $3.40, $2.30, and $2.10 for the victory.
“It was a dominant performance by Ways and Means. She really showed her class today,” said trainer Chad Brown.
Emery, trained by Brad Cox, held on for second and returned $3.70 and $2.50, while Mike Maker’s My Mane Squeeze, ridden by Luis Saez, finished third and paid $2.50.
A homebred for Klaravich Stables, Ways and Means entered the Test off a dominant 8 1/4-length allowance win at Saratoga on June 6. The talented filly was second in last year’s Spinaway (G1) at the Spa and has finished fourth in the Kentucky Oaks and second in the Gulfstream Oaks (G2) in her two prior stakes attempts this season.
In other news, Brightwork, who was set to make her first start since finishing sixth in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, was a late scratch after “rearing up and flipping in the paddock” and suffering minor scrapes, according to a New York Racing Association spokesperson. Under NYRA rules, the filly had to be withdrawn from the race.
(Source: NYRA, August 3, 2024)
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