NEW ORLEANS – Different connections, same result, as Way to Be Marie won the $100,000 Tom Benson Memorial Stakes for the second year in a row Saturday at Fair Grounds. Rallying wide under Luis Saez, Way to Be Marie had to work to run down pacesetting Sophie’s Cruiser and nab the Benson by a neck. Sophie’s Cruiser, at 10-1 the longest shot among just six older fillies and mares, set a modest pace while well clear and did not come back to the field, but Way to Be Marie came and got her. Way to Be Marie campaigns for Twin Oaks Bloodstock after being sold at auction in January for $750,000. Rob Atras trained the mare in her first 14 races, developing her as a younger filly through three calendar years before Way to Be Marie’s new owners turned her over to trainer Eddie Kenneally. Saez rode Way to Be Marie for the first time -- and timed things perfectly in the Benson, a 1 1/16-mile grass race. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Way to Be Marie sat fifth of six under a patient Saez down the backstretch and around the far turn, and even after straightening for home, the mare had one behind her and four still to pass at the five-sixteenths marker. Her winning move was far from electric, but Way to Be Marie under heavy urging steadily closed on the pacesetter, wearing her down two strides before the wire. Heavily favored Way to Be Marie clocked 1:41.78 over a firm, fast course and paid $4.20 (87 Beyer Speed Figure). Ready For Shirl finished third, a half-length behind Sophie’s Cruiser, while pace player Cupids Crush was an early scratch. It made great sense for Twin Oaks and Kenneally to focus on the Benson as a jumping-off point for Way to Be Marie’s 5-year-old season: She loves the local grass course. Saturday’s score ran her Fair Grounds record to 6-4-1-1, and Way to Be Marie has yet to win at another venue. Way to Be Marie is by Not This Time out of Woman of the World, by Henrythenavigator. She figures to improve through spring and summer, and was just good enough Saturday to capture her first start in 4 1/2 months. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.