Horse Racing
Saratoga: Ways and Means seeks 1st graded win in tough Test
Grade 1-placed Ways and Means will be put to the test in Saturday’s $500,000 Test (G1), a seven-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies, at Saratoga
Trained by four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown, the Practical Joke bay looks for her first graded-stakes victory after an impressive 8 1/4-length win in a one-mile allowance on June 6 at Saratoga. The much-the-best stalking score earned a career- and field-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form.
Ways and Means returned to the work tab on June 21 and has completed weekly half-mile breezes since. She covered the ground in a bullet 47.20 seconds over Saratoga’s Oklahoma dirt training track on July 20, fastest of 58 workers at the distance, and completed the same course in 49.21 seconds Saturday.
“She’s doing well. We’ve spaced her races out purposefully for this race,” Brown said. “She’s in a good rhythm working. Some speed in there would help her.”
In her last-out victory, Ways and Means found the winner’s circle for the first time since a dazzling 12 3/4-length debut romp sprinting six furlongs last August at the Spa. She exited to post a troubled runner-up finish to returning foe Brightwork in the seven-furlong Spinaway (G1) in September.
Ways and Means made her sophomore debut with a runner-up finish in the 1 1/16-mile Gulfstream Parks Oaks in March ahead of a fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 3.
Dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox will saddle 4-for-5 Emery, who rallied to capture the Victory Ride (G3) last out on July 4 at Belmont at the Big A.
The More Than Ready dark bay enters on a three-race win streak, including a closing score in the seven-furlong Leslie’s Lady on June 9 at Churchill. The lone loss during her career came in the one-turn mile Frizette (G1) in October at Belmont at the Big A, captured by eventual champion 2-year-old filly Just F Y I.
“Classy filly, really easy to deal with. The last few months we’ve thrown a lot at her with (coming) back quick in the Victory Ride, but she responded well,” Cox said. “It is going to be a little quick back to the Test, but she is doing it the right way. She’s settling into her races and finishing up.”
Cox also will send out graded-stakes winner Denim and Pearls off a distant seventh as the beaten favorite in the seven-furlong Eight Belles (G2) on May 3 at Churchill won by returning rival My Mane Squeeze.
Previously, the Into Mischief bay was an eye-catching 9 1/4-length winner in the seven-furlong Beaumont (G2) on April 7 at Keeneland, garnering a career-best 96 Beyer.
Grade 2-winning New York-bred My Mane Squeeze looks for her first top-level score after a last-out fourth in the nine-furlong Acorn (G1) won by Thorpedo Anna. Trained by Mike Maker, the Audible dark bay entered off a win in the Eight Belles over sloppy and sealed footing.
“I think seven-eighths or one-turn miles are the perfect distance for her,” Maker said in regard to the filly’s 5-for-7 record at one mile or less.
My Mane Squeeze’s resume features three state-bred stakes run at Aqueduct, including the Maddie May in February and Maid of the Mist in October, both one-turn miles, with the 6 1/2-furlong Franklin Square in between in January.
Grade 1 winner Brightwork is set to return from a layoff of more than eight months dating to an off-the-board result in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in November at Santa Anita.
Trained by John Ortiz, the Outwork bay captured a pair of local graded sprints last summer including the Spinaway over the heavily favored Ways and Means, plus the Adirondack (G3) one month prior.
After a 4-for-4 start to her career, Brightwork finished off the board in a pair of two-turn efforts, traveling 1 1/16 miles in the Alcibiades (G1) in October at Keeneland before the Breeders’ Cup attempt at that same distance.
“I think it was a little bit the distance, and we did ask a lot of her. It is rare to see a 2-year-old break their maiden and make it all the way to the end of the year like that,” Ortiz said. “I’m not concerned she wouldn’t be able to get the distance eventually, I think we squeezed the lemon just a little bit too much at the end of the year.”
Rounding out the field is stakes winner Belle’s Blue Bell for trainer Carlos David. The Florida-bred Girvin bay won the six-furlong Maryfield last out June 29 at Monmouth Park.
| Post | Silks | Horse / Sire | Rating | Trainer / Jockey | Last Start / Next Start | HRN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Emery More Than Ready |
6.34 | Entered | |||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 2 |
|
Denim And Pearls Into Mischief |
5.59 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 3 |
|
Belle’s Blue Bell Girvin |
0.00 |
1st, Maryfield S. |
Entered | |
|
Last Race Next Race |
1st, Maryfield S. |
|||||
| 4 |
|
Ways and Means Practical Joke |
7.48 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 5 |
|
My Mane Squeeze Audible |
7.05 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
| 6 |
|
Brightwork Outwork |
6.47 | Entered | ||
|
Last Race Next Race |
||||||
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