Ways and Means fires bullet half-mile for Kentucky Oaks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Having watched a turf horse of his work fast on the dirt early Friday morning, trainer Chad Brown knew that his top 3-year-old dirt filly Ways and Means would likely produce a fast time when it came to her final move before next Friday’s Kentucky Oaks.

He wasn’t expecting her to fire the fastest work of the morning. So when Ways and Means went a half-mile in 46.18 seconds over the glib Churchill Downs main track, Brown wasn’t overly excited.

“She did it well, she did it alone, she did it easy,” Brown said. “It was a little faster than I had planned. She wasn’t blowing much afterwards. It’s not normally what I do, hopefully it doesn’t affect her negatively.

“Maybe she’s just doing that good,” Brown said.

Ways and Means will come into the Oaks off just one race this year, a second-place finish in the Gulfstream Park Oaks on March 30. Ways and Means was a brilliant maiden winner at Saratoga last August before finishing second in the Grade 1 Spinaway, a race from which she emerged with an injury.

Brown said it wasn’t until a few weeks before the Gulfstream Park Oaks that he thought Ways and Means even had a chance to make the Kentucky Oaks.

:: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.

“She was really moving forward and I could see she was getting pretty fit quickly,” Brown said. “I knew I’d be going into the Gulfstream Oaks about 80 percent fit. Looking at the field, I thought that would be good enough. Unfortunately, she had a little bit of a rough trip and got run down late by a decent filly [Power Squeeze], but she got a lot out of if it.”

Brown also plans to run Regulatory Risk in the Kentucky Oaks. Regulatory Risk finished second to Where’s My Ring in the Gazelle at Aqueduct. But her subsequent training, with blinkers off, prompted Brown to ship her to Kentucky from New York. Brown planned to work Regulatory Risk at Churchill on Saturday morning.

Brown said jockey Dylan Davis told him that Regulatory Risk was pulling on him during the Gazelle and that she might benefit from the removal of blinkers.

“We did see a difference taking them off,” Brown said. “Based on what I’ve seen from her galloping, I’m pleasantly surprised how far she’s moved forward physically.”

Brown said Jose Ortiz will ride Regulatory Risk in the Oaks.

Where’s My Ring, the Gazelle winner, posted a fast workout Friday morning at Churchill, going a half-mile in 46.98 while galloping out in 59.59.

“It was good to see her make a move like that coming up to this kind of race,” trainer Val Brinkerhoff told Churchill Downs publicity. “We’ve had so many issues with her, mostly small problems, but plenty of them along the way. But now she’s right.”

Trainer Brad Cox worked his pair of Oaks hopefuls, Tarifa, the Fair Grounds Oaks winner, and Gin Gin. Tarifa, who went five furlongs in 59.20 seconds, started about two lengths behind Gin Gin, who was timed in 59.60.

Thorpedo Anna, the Fantasy winner, went five furlongs in 59.39 under jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.

“She worked really well,” the jockey said. “She was in the bridle all the way. She’s a forward filly and always shows how talented she is.”

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

While the Oaks was expected to draw a full field of 14 when entries closed and post positions were to be assigned Saturday night, Manama Gold will not be one of them. The U.A.E. Oaks winner, recently shipped to Todd Pletcher, worked a half-mile in 48.28 on Friday at Churchill.

“She’s a quality filly, but she hasn’t had enough time to acclimate and be ready for a race like that and a day like that,” Pletcher said. “Where we’re going to go I don’t know for sure. The Acorn is a possibility, it would have been great if it was a mile.”

This year, being run at Saratoga, the Acorn, on June 8, will be run at 1 1/8 miles.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.