Klaravich Stables' Ways and Means repeated in the Bed o' Roses Stakes (G2) June 5 at Saratoga Race Course, though she needed every inch of the 7-furlong race to do it.
Consistently repelled by longtime leader Grand Job after chasing her from the start, Ways and Means kept up her dogged pursuit and ultimately wore her down by a nose in a head-bobbing finish. Though her margin of victory was tiny compared to last year, when she took the Bed o' Roses by 7 3/4 lengths, the homebred 5-year-old daughter of Practical Joke ran even faster than in 2025, clocking 7 furlongs in 1:21.05 on a fast track. She was timed in 1:21.11 last year.
Grand Job, winner of this winter's Inside Information Stakes (G2) at Gulfstream Park for owners Bell Tower Thoroughbreds, Medallion Racing, and Mark Stanton, carved out the interior fractions of :22.07, :43.97, and 1:07.69 under Junior Alvarado.
Winning jockey Flavien Prat acknowledged he thought his mount might have to settle for second, but when the leader weakened in the closing yards and Ways and Means continued with her steady run, "My filly was brave enough," he said.
Her Chad Brown-trained stablemate, Don Alberto Stable's Senza Parole, checked in third, 9 1/2 lengths behind the top two. The Gun Runner filly earned a valuable initial graded stakes placing.
For the second straight race, graded stakes winner Grand Job was tagged late in a photo, just as she was in a nose loss in her last race in the April 4 Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland. Her connections were still proud of her effort.
"She ran her heart out," Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said to Alvarado as the rider dismounted.
Ways and Means improved to 5-1-0 in six starts at Saratoga. She is 6-3-1 in 12 races overall with earnings of $1,362,500.
"Her best races are definitely here, but I've been having trouble keeping her in a regular campaign, though, too," Brown said.
Last year, she didn't race after the Bed o' Roses after getting sick, Brown said. She didn't reappear until last month when second in the Derby City Distaff Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby (G1) undercard.
Brown said the Aug. 29 Ballerina Stakes (G1) at Saratoga is a summer goal before aiming her for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) in the fall at Keeneland. Those races go a long way toward determining the champion female sprinter each year.
Reflecting on the Keeneland race, "She's going to have to take her game on the road," Brown said.
Ways and Means, bred in Kentucky by her owner, Seth Klarman of Klaravich Stables, is one of three graded stakes winners produced by the stakes-winning Warrior's Reward mare Strong Incentive, the others being grade 3 winner and stallion Highly Motivated and grade 1-winning turf mare Surge Capacity.
Practical Joke, the nation's sixth-leading sire, stands for $75,000 at Ashford Stud in Central Kentucky.
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