Saratoga 2024: Ways and Means delivers at odds-on in Test

Ways and Means rewarded her odds-on favoritism on Saturday, notching her first career stakes score by pulling away from the competition out of the turn and finishing strong in the Grade 1, $500,000 Test Stakes at Saratoga.

The 99th running of the Test, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies, saw Ways and Means cut back in distance on her return to stakes company following a runner-up effort in the 1 1/16-mile Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2) in March and a fourth in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks (G1) in May.

The Klaravich Stables homebred from Kentucky who romped by 8 1/4 lengths against allowance company going one mile last out June 6 at the Spa returned to the track and broke sharply from post 4 under jockey Flavien Prat as the 3-5 mutuel favorite.

Emery, from the inside post, surged to the front to go with Ways and Means, taking the early command in leading the five-horse field through early fractions of 22.43 and 44.54 seconds a muddy and sealed main track.. 

Tyler Gaffalione-piloted Emery, one of two entrants in the field for dual Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, finished two lengths clear of the New York-bred My Mane Squeeze to take second. Stablemate Denim and Pearls finished fourth. Belle’s Blue Bell rounded out the order of finish in fifth.

Brightwork was scratched after rearing in the paddock and absorbing some minor scrapes. Trainer John Ortiz subsequently reported the colt returned to his barn and was in good order.

Seth Klarman of Klaravich Stables, who also owned and bred two graded-stakes-winning half-siblings to Ways and Means in Highly Motivated and Surge Capacity, said he holds the Test in high regard.

“Anything with a homebred is extra special, and she’s got a brother and sister who are also phenomenal performers,” Klarman said. “It’s her first stakes win even though she’s done so much, and to win not just a Grade 1 but the Test is extremely special.”

Ways and Means returned $3.40 on a $2 win wager and improved her career earnings to $569,500. The Practical Joke filly’s only off-the-board finish came in the crowded 14-horse Kentucky Oaks field in which she still ran competitively behind victorious Thorpedo Anna over a sloppy and sealed track in the spring.

“We always knew she was a true Grade 1 horse and has had some bad luck along the way,” Brown said. “She really showed a lot of heart and perseverance to overcome her injury last year, and she dealt with a sealed track today, too. We weren’t sure if she was going to like it, but she really showed up for us today. That Kentucky Oaks when it had a wet track was a little tough to figure out. It was a mile-and-an-eighth, and I really think she breezed too fast the week before the race, and she ran into a monster horse. It was unclear to me whether or not she could run on a wet track off that race.

“Cutting back has been key for her. She definitely has an affinity to one-turn races and Saratoga. She showed that when she broke her maiden so impressively here. Really her only defeat at Saratoga was in the Spinaway when she had a ton of trouble, clipped heels and actually got seriously injured in the race. Fortunately she was able to come back from it. She was all class and Flavien gets along with her so well. I thought he did a really good job to assert himself early, and from there she really had no excuse with that trip.”

Prat registered his first career Test win and has been aboard for each of Ways and Means’s victories, including the previous win in Saratoga in which she earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form.

“To be honest she broke so well I could have gone if I wanted to,” Prat said. “I could have crossed over and gone to the rail, but I figured I was fine in the middle of the track and figured if someone on the inside was willing to go, I had no problem with that. She always runs with a target, so I didn't think today was the day to try something.”

Emery, who had won four of her first five starts for Cox including last out in the Victory Ride (G3) in July at Aqueduct, posted wins in her first three starts of 2024 before her second-place showing. It was the second Grade 1 appearance for the More Than Ready filly following a fourth-place performance in the Frizette in October at the Big A.

“She ran well. I thought Tyler did a good job of not letting the winner get away early,” Cox said. “She kind of backed out of it a little bit. He said she may have been a little uncomfortable down on the inside. When he straightened up and got her outside, she kind of re-rallied, fought on for second and came at the winner a bit. But all in all, happy with the performance.”