Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint: Ways and Means goes out with champion's flair

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LEXINGTON, KY. - Ways and Means closed out her racing career in championship style, exploding through the stretch to a dominant 6 1/4-length victory over the late-running longshot Foie Gras and nine other overmatched rivals in Saturday’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland.

Ways and Means, a Klaravich Stable homebred, is trained by Chad Brown, who won the Filly and Mare Sprint for a record fourth time. Ways and Means closed her brilliant but injury-plagued career with two one-sided, Grade 1 victories. Her performance in the Filly and Mare Sprint was nearly a carbon copy of her equally convincing 5 1/2-length triumph in the Ballerina at Saratoga nine weeks ago.

Ways and Means, who will be sold on Monday in the Fasig-Tipton November Sale, will retire with eight wins in 14 starts and earnings of more than $2.1 million. She also finished fifth as the tepid favorite in the 2024 Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar.

Ways and Mean’s seven previous victories had all come in New York, with six at Saratoga, making some skeptical that she could duplicate that form in her Keeneland debut on Saturday. Brown addressed that issue after the race.

“I’m most happy for this filly because she got to show what she could do on a neutral racetrack today against some of the best sprinters in the country,” Brown said. “And she shook that label of just being effective at Saratoga. What she loves is training at Saratoga, and I finally figured that out, and that she can take her racetrack with her, as long as she trains at home.”

Brown’s biggest concern coming into the race was not the site but actually the fact she drew near the inside, in post 2, and her ability to work out a clean trip under regular rider Flavien Prat. His worries were compounded when Ways and Means was backed out of the gate prior to the start.

But Brown’s fears were put to rest by the time the field reached the midway point on the turn. Despite breaking a bit flat-footed, Ways and Means was urged forward along the inside by Prat to secure perfect striking position behind the pacesetting Kerry’s Kiss, who was stalked from the outset by her stablemate R Disaster.

Ways and Means eased out to split the leaders entering the stretch, quickly struck the front at the top of the lane, then steadily increased her advantage while kept under encouragement to the end.

Foie Gras, sent postward at 21-1, raced well back during the early going, began to work her way past horses on the turn, came wide for the drive and finished willingly down the center of the track to be second-best while never menacing the winner. Splendora finished another half-length farther back in third, flattening out down the lane after racing forwardly into the stretch.

Ways and Means, a 5-year-old homebred daughter of Practical Joke, completed seven furlongs over a fast track in 1:21.76 and returned $4.14.

“I was definitely concerned when they backed her out of the gate, I wasn’t sure what the issue was at that point, and she didn’t get away from there as quick as I’d hoped,” Brown noted. “It looked like he (Prat) maybe had to use her a little bit to get up in that pocket spot we wanted. But once she got there I saw her put her ears forward and I felt better.”

Brown said Ways and Means had shown “incredible talent” from the first time she stepped into his barn, but noted she had to overcome a number of obstacles that caused her to have several gaps in her form throughout her career.

“She’s had various different setbacks,” Brown explained. “She had minor surgery after the Spinaway, at which point I thought we were in real trouble with her career. And several different people, all my vets, the noted foot specialist Ian McKinlay and various members of my barn crew, played a big part or we wouldn’t be here today.”

Foie Gras is also scheduled to be sold at auction next month in the Keeneland November Sale.

“Nobody was beating the winner today,” trainer Michael Maker said. “She was a little farther back than I expected, came a little wide, but ran her race as always. She shows up every time.”

Trainer Bob Baffert concurred with Maker, that nobody was beating Ways and Means, after sending out his Grade 1-winning 3-year-old Explora to finish third while making her first start against older horses in the Filly and Mare Sprint.

“She lost a lot of ground, but she showed up, she brought her ‘A’ game. It just wasn’t good enough,” Baffert said.

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