The prognosis wasn’t good for Ways and Means after she emerged from her runner-up effort in last year’s Grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga with an injury. “I thought there was a chance that when we sent her home after the Spinaway that she wouldn’t run again,” trainer Chad Brown said. “Not only did she have a chip in her ankle, but she had a lot of swelling in a very important part of her pastern with a lot of soft tissue structures in there. I would have thought certainly something was torn in there. Thankfully, time resolved that part of it. Dr. [Larry] Bramlage did a great job with her, not only taking the chip out, but guiding us on all the time she needed for other minor injuries that she sustained during the race.” Not only did Ways and Means make a full recovery, but she’s turned into a force in the filly and mare sprint division, winning her last three starts by a combined 14 3/4 lengths. :: BREEDERS’ CUP FILLY AND MARE SPRINT: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more Brown nursed Goodnight Olive through two bilateral ankle surgeries, and that mare recovered well enough to win the last two editions of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. He’ll try to pull off a similar trick this year with Ways and Means, listed as the 3-1 favorite on the preliminary morning line set by Daily Racing Form’s Brad Free. Ways and Means was placed on the fast track to make the Kentucky Oaks, finishing fourth in only her second start back from injury. But it’s at shorter distances that she’s found her niche. The Practical Joke filly won the preeminent race for 3-year-old filly sprinters, Saratoga’s Grade 1 Test on Aug. 3, then won her final Breeders’ Cup prep in Aqueduct’s Grade 2 Gallant Bloom on Sept. 29. “The alternative was not good going into the Breeders’ Cup off a layoff and not being sharp for those seven [furlongs] at Del Mar,” Brown said about the Gallant Bloom. “I was just running to give her some recency and hoping for the best against older horses that she wouldn’t get upset. Lo and behold, she might have run the best race I’ve seen from her.” Brown has been pleased with how Ways and Means has been training recently. “One good thing about her is how much she takes care of herself in the morning. She’s happy to only do what’s asked of her. Her first work back [after the Gallant Bloom], I worked her alone, and she worked just okay. She was a bit bored and a little too switched off. I put her in company this last week and she was absolutely on a hold waiting for a cue. If she’s got somebody to look at, she’s definitely on her game.” As for the Filly and Mare Sprint, Brown mentioned that he’d like to see Ways and Means “drawn toward the outside to get a trip where she doesn’t have to catch too much dirt. This is a filly that does prefer to get outside in the clear.” ◗ Eleven pre-entered the Filly and Mare Sprint, including Society, Scylla, and Vahva, the top-three finishers in Saratoga’s Grade 1 Ballerina. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.