Odds-on favorite Ways and Means sailed through Sunday’s $242,500 Gallant Bloom (G2) at Aqueduct, her tune-up for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1).
But trainer Chad Brown wasn’t as fortunate to keep his Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) prospects on course Sunday. He had a trio entered in the “Win and You’re In” Miss Grillo (G2), only to have the race postponed after significant rainfall pelted the turf. The four undercard turf races were transferred to the main track.
The Miss Grillo will be rescheduled for Sunday. Along with the other graded stakes originally set for that date, the Beldame (G2) and Matron (G3), the Miss Grillo will be redrawn on Wednesday.
In the wake of all the weather-related changes, the Pick 6 was also canceled Sunday, and its carryover of $83,912 was pushed to Thursday.
The Gallant Bloom went ahead on the sloppy main oval. Ways and Means readily accomplished her mission of getting a race in between her Test (G1) conquest at Saratoga Aug. 3 and the Nov. 2 Filly & Mare Sprint at Del Mar.
The 0.45-1 favorite as the class of the short field, the Klaravich Stables homebred put herself in a pace-prompting position with Flavien Prat. Hitherto unbeaten Nic’s Style blasted to the front as expected, and Ways and Means was lapped on her flank through fractions of :22.65 and :45.96.
Turning for home, Nic’s Style tried to make the favorite work harder to get past. But Ways and Means always had her measure, pulling away in midstretch and ultimately opening up by four lengths. The Practical Joke filly splashed 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15.46.
The race unfolded much as Prat envisioned.
“I thought obviously the filly of Mr. Mott (Nic’s Style) was going to be the leader. But just try to break clean and get out running for at least the first furlong and see where we would land, but that was pretty much it,” the winning rider said.
“I thought it was very good. It felt like I was traveling very well all the way around, and when I asked her to get going down the lane, she responded the proper way. I mean it was just a smooth trip from her part.”
Nic’s Style acquitted herself admirably in her stakes debut and just her fourth career start. The 2.45-1 second choice was best of the rest by 2 3/4 lengths.
“There was a little bit of a question mark about how she would handle the track,” jockey Junior Alvarado said of the runner-up. “On the backside, she was turning sideways a little bit. But still, the winner was much the best today.
“She gave me a great effort and fought all the way to the wire. We got beat by one of the best stakes mares in the country, so nothing to be ashamed of finishing second today.”
Sterling Silver, who was first past the post in last year’s Gallant Bloom but demoted to second, settled for third this time. Hot Fudge chased early but faded to fourth, while Pacific Rose trailed throughout.
Ways and Means sports a mark of 7-4-2-0, $707,000. A spectacular debut winner at the Spa as a juvenile, the bay was injured during a brutal-trip second in the 2023 Spinaway (G1).
Not ready to return to action until the March 30 Gulfstream Park Oaks (G2), Ways and Means wound up second at odds-on. The combination of another troubled passage and ring-rustiness in a challenging two-turn debut contributed to her loss.
Ways and Means advanced to the Kentucky Oaks (G1), but retreated to fourth after pursuing divisional standout Thorpedo Anna. Although that lone unplaced effort of her career came on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs, the 1 1/8-mile distance was arguably the key factor.
Reverting in trip thereafter, Ways and Means has been flawless. She romped in a confidence-boosting allowance back at Saratoga June 6, setting herself up for an overdue first stakes victory in the Test.
The Gallant Bloom marked her first sortie against older distaffers in a stakes, and her class again shone brightly.
“It was impressive,” Brown noted. “Hopefully she comes out of the race good. I was worried about the track because she didn’t run good on an off track in the Kentucky Oaks, but there might have been a lot of factors for that, not just a wet track.
“I love how Flavien kept his position. It was kind of tight going down the backside, and I wasn’t sure if he was going to tug her back or let her go. I’m happy that he went, and she put away a good filly — that filly on the inside (Nic’s Style) is pretty fast.
“It was a perfect prep, so long as she comes out healthy. I wasn’t feeling comfortable with a 13-week layoff to the Breeders’ Cup and that’s going to be a real race going seven furlongs out there.”
Ways and Means is out of the stakes-winning Warrior’s Reward mare Strong Incentive, who has produced two other accomplished performers for Klaravich and Brown. Her Grade 3-winning track record-setter Highly Motivated is by Into Mischief, and therefore a three-quarter brother to Ways and Means (by Into Mischief’s son Practical Joke). They are half-siblings to Surge Capacity (by Flintshire), last fall’s Matriarch (G1) heroine.
