Ways and Means will get the chance to defend her Breeders' Cup title next year. Boyd Racing confirmed Friday that the newly crowned Filly & Mare Sprint winner will remain in training at six with Chad Brown, ending the uncertainty that followed her $5 million purchase at Fasig-Tipton's November Sale. BloodHorse reported that Boyd Racing made the announcement in a Nov. 13 release.
The decision carries considerable sporting significance because Ways and Means was sold as a racing or broodmare prospect only two days after her Keeneland demolition job. Sent off as the $4.14 favorite, she drew away by 6 1/4 lengths in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, producing the third Grade 1 victory of her career. The Breeders' Cup's official race report identified the performance as a possible finale before the sale; it now stands instead as the launch point for another campaign.
Boyd Racing, owned by Randy and Jenny Boyd, paid $5 million through agent Brittany Linton for the Klaravich Stables homebred. The mare has now won eight of 14 starts, earned $2,157,500, and captured six graded stakes, including the 2024 Test and this year's Ballerina and Filly & Mare Sprint. The Fasig-Tipton sale report lists her as hip 161 and records the $5 million transaction as the auction's top price.
Her 2026 form makes the decision more than a sentimental gamble. Ways and Means opened the season with a runner-up finish in the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff, then won the Grade 2 Bed o' Roses before rolling through the Ballerina by 5 1/2 lengths and dominating the Breeders' Cup. According to Daily Racing Form, she is 6-for-7 at Saratoga, where the 2026 Ballerina and her 2024 Test triumph were achieved. That record points naturally toward another summer return to the Spa, although the broader schedule has not been finalized.
Brown also brings a compelling record in the division. The Ways and Means victory was his fourth Filly & Mare Sprint win, following Wavell Avenue in 2015 and Goodnight Olive's consecutive victories in 2022 and 2023. Flavien Prat has been aboard for the mare's recent peak, including the Ballerina and Breeders' Cup, and his familiarity with her one-turn speed gives the new ownership group a proven partnership to preserve.
The transition is notable because Brown had not previously trained for the Boyds. He told Daily Racing Form that he was impressed after meeting the couple and looked forward to campaigning Ways and Means in 2027. She has already returned to Brown's winter base at Payson Park in Florida, giving the stable time to prioritize recovery before mapping out a first start.
For now, the most logical target is a repeat bid in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, but the mare's owners have bought themselves something more valuable than a single race: another full season with the presumptive 2026 Eclipse Award winner. A healthy Ways and Means would bring elite Saratoga form, recent championship momentum, and a trainer who has repeatedly shown he can peak a female sprinter on the biggest stage.