Ways and Means seeks return to winner’s circle in G2 Bed o’ Roses

Klaravich Stables’ Grade 1-winning homebred Ways and Means returns to the scene of some of her most dazzling performances when she takes on a group of six rivals in Friday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Bed o’ Roses, a seven-furlong sprint for older fillies and mares, at the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga.

The Bed o’ Roses [Race 6] is one of six stakes on the Friday program, which features four Grade 1s in the $750,000 New York presented by Rivers Casino [Race 12], $500,000 DK Horse Acorn [Race 11], the $500,000 Just a Game presented by Resolute Racing [Race 13] and the $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Race 9] – a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar. First post for the 14-race program, which also hosts the Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup in Race 10, is 11:40 a.m. Eastern. 

Ways and Means, a pupil of five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, makes her second start off a six-month respite that ended with a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff over sloppy and sealed footing on May 3 at Churchill Downs. There, she stalked the pace under regular pilot Flavien Prat and made a bid heading into the turn to advance into third position. Ways and Means gave game chase down the lane, but could not reel in the dominant four-time graded stakes-winner Kopion, finishing just three-quarter lengths back of dual graded stakes-winning runner-up Hope Road. 

Brown said he was satisfied with the effort off the layoff. 

“She came out of that race good. I’m not so sure she loves a wet track and I think the layoff was a lot to overcome,” Brown said. “Looking back on it and seeing who finished first and second – two really good horses from California that were in form and fit – and this filly hadn’t run in quite a while. 

“All-in-all, I don’t want to pile up excuses, and I was actually very pleased with her race,” Brown added. “For her to finish third with some good fillies behind her in that race, I think she ran her race.” 

The 4-year-old Practical Joke bay returns to the scene of her most impressive victories, and boasts a formidable 4-3-1-0 record at the Spa that includes an eye-catching 12 3/4-length debut graduation in 2023 and a 2 1/2-length triumph in the Grade 1 Test last summer. 

“I’m looking forward to it,” Brown said of the return to Saratoga. “She seems to have done her best running here.”

The latter half of her 2024 campaign saw her score an open-lengths win in the Grade 2 Gallant Bloom in September at Belmont at the Big A ahead of a fifth as the post-time favorite in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint where she was among the topflight at the top of the lane but was outmatched in the stretch run and defeated just 1 1/4 lengths. 

Ways and Means, who earned a lofty 104 Beyer Speed Figure for an 8 1/4-length allowance romp going one-mile here last summer, is out of the Klaravich Stables-campaigned and Brown-trained stakes-winner Strong Incentive, who also produced graded stakes-winners Highly Motivated and Surge Capacity for the same connections. 

Prat will look to engineer a winning ride from post 3. 

Irish Three Racing’s Irish Maxima looks to test her mettle against the best of her division off six wins in her last seven starts, including a last-out triumph to make the grade in the Grade 3 Distaff sprinting seven furlongs on April 5 at Aqueduct Racetrack. 

Trained by John Servis, the 4-year-old daughter of Maximus Mischief enters on a three-race win streak that began with a 13 3/4-length trouncing of the Mrs. Claus on New Year’s Eve at Parx Racing, an effort that was awarded a 101 Beyer. She followed with a two-length annexing of the Listed Barbara Fritchie to kick off her current campaign in February at Laurel Park ahead of her Distaff coup. 

The talented bay has won 7-of-9 efforts that saw her lead through the first quarter-mile, including an additional stakes victory sprinting six furlongs in the Weather Vane in September at Laurel. Last out, she again made the lead under regular pilot Frankie Pennington and came under threat from returning rival St. Benedicts Prep at the top of the lane, but persisted through the stretch to win by 1 1/4 lengths in a final time of 1:22.92. 

Pennington rides again from post 1. 

The other last-out graded winner in the field is Parkland Thoroughbreds and Sportsmen Stable’s Jody’s Pride [post 4, Irad Ortiz, Jr.], who took the one-mile Grade 2 Ruffian by three-quarter-lengths over millionaire New York-bred Sterling Silver on May 10 at Belmont at the Big A. 

Trained by Jorge Abreu, the American Pharoah 4-year-old stalked and pounced to her Ruffian victory under Hall of Famer Joel Rosario, prevailing with a steady drive to the inside of her rivals in the lane to land the narrow win in a final time of 1:35.04. 

Jody’s Pride, who finished a neck second in the 2023 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, was impressive in defeat in the seven-furlong Grade 2 Inside Information for her seasonal bow on January 25 at Gulfstream Park, stalking and pouncing to a third-place finish in a three-way photo with Mystic Lake and Emery. The effort earned a 95 Beyer, just one point lower than her career-best 96 earned in the Ruffian. 

Juddmonte’s Kentucky homebred Scylla [post 2, Joel Rosario] seeks a return to form off a fourth in the aforementioned Derby City Distaff, where she finished 6 3/4 lengths behind Kopion and three lengths back of Ways and Means. 

Trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, Scylla’s speed figures suggest she is in career form after earning a career-best 96 for the third consecutive start, matching the number earned for a game second to Society in last year’s Grade 1 Ballerina here and a one-length fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint as part of the exciting tight finish that was topped by the deep-closing Soul of an Angel. 

Scylla, out of 2014 Champion Older Mare Close Hatches and a full-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning multimillionaire Tacitus for the same connections, vies for her first win since last June’s Grade 2 Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs, which was followed by a pair of seconds in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar and Ballerina. 

Dual stakes-winner Miss Justify [post 6, Dylan Davis] returns to the scene of her restricted Wilton victory for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, looking to add to a 8-5-0-1 record that also includes a win in the 1 1/16-mile Listed Seneca Overnight in September at Churchill Downs. 

Campaigned by Twin Oaks Bloodstock, IEE Racing, Joseph Bulger and Will Campbell, the Justify 4-year-old returned from a nearly seven-month layoff last out to post a career-best performance with a four-length optional claiming coup on April 18 at Aqueduct Racetrack. The effort was awarded a lifetime-best 93 Beyer. 

“I thought she had a good comeback race, so I’m looking forward to this,” Pletcher said. “She seemed to like it here [last summer] and she seemed like she came back well off the layoff.”

Completing the field are multiple graded stakes-placed Justique [post 5, Jose Ortiz] for trainer Cherie DeVaux, and graded stakes-placed St. Benedicts Prep [post 7, Jose Lezcano] for trainer Linda Rice. 

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit belmontstakes.com/event-info/tv-schedule. 

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