Five-year-old Ways and Means was the odds-on favorite on the morning line in the Grade 1, $500,000 Ballerina Stakes, and she was the odds-on favorite when the field of 10 broke from the gate, and she ran exactly how an odds-on favorite should, with confidence and ease, hitting the wire 5 ½ lengths in front for her fifth graded stakes win, four of them coming at Saratoga Race Course.
The bay mare broke from post 7 under regular rider Flavien Prat, who kept her off the rail and several lengths off the pace in the early going of the 7-furlong Ballerina. With little urging from Prat, Ways and Means advanced on the horses in front of her, swinging wide around the final turn. Prat offered her some encouragement at the 3/16ths pole, rousing her to open up on her rivals, and open up she did for her seventh lifetime win from 13 starts.
"I was traveling well behind the pace, and when I got to the turn I didn't want to move too soon," said Prat, "but she naturally came with me and was wanting to go, so I kind of let her creep up to the pace. After that, when we turned from home, she responded.
"I think she has always shown how good she is. I think before it was more of a raw talent, but [now] she has the ability to be a bit more push-button. So [with] the mix of the talent and that, she made a good run today."
The Ballerina was Prat's fifth win on the Travers Day card.
With the Ballerina win, Ways and Means has earned $1.6 million. Trained by Chad Brown, Ways and Means is owned and bred by Klaravich Stables, which also campaigned the mare's sire Practical Joke, himself a multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire.
Second betting choice Kilwin was second, followed by longshot Beauty Reigns in third. Ways and Means paid $4.70 for a $2 win ticket.
"I'm always a little bit nervous before our races," said owner Seth Klarman. "It's a giant field of very accomplished fillies, and a lot of things can go wrong in horse racing. We know how good she is, and she's a seasoned pro, but still, we were delighted."
Brown expressed a similar sentiment.
"It's a huge relief," he said. "You want to come in with horses that are odds-on or better in these Grade 1s, so you know you have a real good horse and you have them in the right race, but there's still a lot of pressure because it is Saratoga."
"Plenty of them are buried in the graveyard, and you don't want to end up on that list," he went on, referring to Saratoga's reputation as the "Graveyard of Champions."
Three races earlier, Klaravich, Brown, and Prat won with another odds-on favorite when Fully Subscribed took the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign. Both races are part of the "Win and You're In" series, which grants the winners an automatic berth to the Breeders' Cup, a travel stipend to Keeneland Race Course (the site of this year's Breeders' Cup), and payment of entry fees.
Klarman confirmed that Ways and Means will be pointed to the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, a race in which she finished fifth last year at Del Mar. This year's race will be her last for Klarman, who said that the mare would be offered for sale after the Breeders' Cup, regardless of her performance.
"She's a Saratoga specialist, so can she take her race over to Keeneland?" said Brown. "She's never run there, so I can't promise you that she will, but she's in top form right now, and you'd like to think that she could. That track has some similarities to Saratoga, unlike when we went to Del Mar. I'm happy that the races will be at Keeneland. At least she hasn't proven that she can't run a top one there."
SubscribeThere’s more to Albany with the Times Union. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at Ways and Means dominates Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga.
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