Ways and Means returns to Saratoga to defend Bed o' Roses crown

Ways and Means turned Saratoga into her place again, defending her Bed o' Roses crown and backing up the idea that she is more than a one-race wonder. The Klaravich Stables homebred came into Friday’s Grade 2, $300,000 test off a sharp second in the Derby City Distaff at Churchill Downs, and she left with another win that strengthened her path toward champion-level company.

That is what makes her such a dangerous favorite: the form, the setting and the upside all line up. Ways and Means is now 4-for-5 over the Saratoga main track, with her only Spa defeat coming in the 2023 Spinaway when she was a 2-year-old. She also has a history with this race that borders on domination, after her 2025 Bed o' Roses victory came by 7 3/4 lengths, the largest margin in the race since 1976. Dance to Bristol still owns the fastest Bed o' Roses time in that span at 1:20.81 in 2013, but Ways and Means has already left her own mark on the event.

The field had real depth. Grand Job, a Bill Mott trainee, was the main threat at 6-5 after showing quality in the Madison at Keeneland and the Inside Information at Gulfstream. Senza Parole, another Brown runner, brought her own credentials with an allowance win and runner-up form against Queen Azteca. Flavien Prat was again in the saddle for Ways and Means, and the combination looked every bit like a major-stakes outfit. The race itself is a seven-furlong dirt sprint for fillies and mares 4 and up, and its history has usually rewarded horses with a strong, repeatable edge. Allen Jerkens leads all trainers with seven Bed o' Roses wins, Robbie Davis tops the rider list with three, and only three fillies have won it twice.

Chad Brown has been clear about the bigger picture. He wants Ways and Means to become a champion and has pointed her toward the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Keeneland in October, a race he has already won three times with Wavell Avenue and Goodnight Olive. That ambition does not feel inflated here. Ways and Means entered the day with $997,500 in purse money and $618,250 of it earned at Saratoga, a striking split that says everything about where she is most effective. Her pedigree, by Practical Joke out of Strong Incentive, and her Saratoga record make the bet simple: when this filly shows up at the Spa, she usually runs like the building was made for her.