Ways and Means

Trainer Chad Brown sent out a quartet of Breeders' Cup aspirants to work over Belmont Park's dirt training track, led by GI Toyota Bluegrass Stakes winner Sierra Leone (Gun Runner), who covered a half-mile in :48.67. Runner up in the GI Kentucky Derby and third in the GI Belmont earlier this spring, the $2.3 million yearling purchase races for Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Rocket Ship Racing and Brant. "He looks super, and the horse is really training well," Brown said of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic...

When Jon Clay bought Strong Incentive for his Alpha Delta Stables for $2.15 million at last year's Fasig-Tipton November Sale, she had already produced Grade III winner and track-record holder Highly Motivated (Into Mischief), now a stallion at Airdrie Stud; two-time Grade III winner Surge Capacity (Flintshire {GB}); and an up-and-coming `TDN Rising Star' named Ways and Means (Practical Joke), who had run second in the Grade I Spinaway Stakes. Within a month of his purchase, Surge Capacity won the Grade I Matriarch, and by the following summer, Ways and...

The weather did not bother 'TDN Rising Star' Ways and Means (Practical Joke--Strong Incentive, by Warrior's Reward) as she skimmed the Aqueduct slop and easily took home the GII Gallant Bloom Stakes on Sunday afternoon. Last seen capturing the GI Test Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 3, that effort came on the back of a career best two back--at least on paper--over a Saratoga first-level allowance group June 6. She'd dominated those rivals by 8 1/4 lengths and earned a 104 Beyer, stronger than anything else this field had managed to...

If you didn't get your fill of stakes action on Saturday, this is the weekend for you. Five more graded stakes, including the 'Win and You're In' GII Miss Grillo Stakes, as well as the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, will take place on Sunday. 'TDN Rising Star' Virgin Colada (More Than Ready) will look to punch her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf in a wide-open renewal of the Miss Grillo at the Belmont at the Big A meeting. A flashy come-from-behind debut winner...

There can't be many tracks that that deviate further from the standard American model than Goodwood. Even in Britain nobody today would dream of laying out a racecourse along a twisting ridge of downland, and we remain duly indebted to the militia officers who first eked out a little sport here 223 years ago. Not that the horses themselves share our appreciation for a gorgeous panorama of cornfields and woodland, focused as they are on keeping their balance over the swaying terrain and round sharp right-hand bends. Yet last week...

Saturday's big winners at Saratoga Race Course all came out of their races in good order Sunday. 4-year-old Arthur's Ride (Tapit), provided a timely update to his family tree for his breeders Joe and Helen Barbazon with a win in the GI Whitney Stakes. "Oh, we're just tickled to death," said Joe Barbazon. "We've got two of his half-sisters and of course this helps their value. We still have his mama here and it's a huge plus for us. It was very exciting, and there was a lot of yelling....

Klaravich Stables' 'TDN Rising Star' Ways and Means (Practical Joke) looked like a winner every step of the way with a comfortable victory as the 3-5 favorite in Saturday's GI Test Stakes at Saratoga. First to break the line for Flavien Prat, the homebred filly led through the opening exchanges, but was ultimately content to allow the rail-skimming Emery (More Than Ready) to come through and take up the running through fractions of :22.43 and :44.54 over the sealed, muddy main track. Held together into the final 2 1/2 furlongs,...

It's a Grade I bonanza Saturday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, as the track plays host to a trio of elite-level races--short and long, turf and dirt. The richest of the three events is the $1-million Whitney Stakes, offering the winner a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on the first Saturday of November. National Treasure (Quality Road) is the 9-5 favorite on David Aragona's morning line and can further tighten his grip on the handicap division with a victory. The $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling...

'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) breezed a solo four furlongs Sunday in :49.73 over the Oklahoma training track for trainer Chad Brown in his final work before Saturday's GII Jim Dandy Stakes. NYRA clockers noted an opening quarter-mile in :25.25 and a gallop out in 1:02.68, 1:14.93 and 1:28.92. "He did super. He's in a nice rhythm," said Brown. "He's been working solo on the training track - I'm liking it. He galloped out with good energy. That's just what I'm looking for six days out." Sierra Leone...

7th-Saratoga, $110,000, Alw, 6-6, (NW1$X), 3yo/up, f/m, 1m, 1:35.90, ft, 8 1/4 lengths. WAYS AND MEANS (f, 3, Practical Joke--Strong Incentive {SW, $123,568}, by Warrior's Reward) was given an entry for Friday's GI Acorn S., but took in this race in its stead and duly stamped her authority on it as the 1-5 mortal. Drawn two from the outside going the Wilton Chute config and adding Lasix for the first time, last year's GI Spinaway S. runner-up was trapped out wide as they angled towards the backstretch and raced out...

This week's morning action at Churchill Downs only served to entice onlookers by the sheer breadth and quality of contenders set to line up for the 150th renewal of the GI Kentucky Oaks and its undercard Friday. A stacked field of 14 is set for the Oaks, led by the 7-2 morning line choice Tarifa (Bernardini), who drew post 8 but moves in to the seven slot following Thursday's scratch of Tapit Jenallie (Tapit). Flavien Prat has the mount on the GII Rachel Alexandra S. and GII Fair Grounds Oaks...

If you do not happen to be a Lord of the Rings devotee, then as a horse racing fan you might assume that Gandalf, Frodo, Saruman and Sauron were just names some eccentric owners concocted to toy with The Jockey Club. Well, for true disciples of Tolkein, you understand the 'Two Towers' reference is a major theme in the trilogy, but for our purposes it simply denotes coverage. This Saturday, both Oaklawn Park and Gulfstream Park are those poles of power when it comes to authoring graded stakes. Their cards...