Not This Time’s Way to Be Marie captured the Tom Benson Memorial S. for the second year in a row Saturday at Fair Grounds, coming from well off the pace to best front-runner Sophie’s Cruiser by a neck in a dramatic finish.

Sophie’s Cruiser had things all to herself for the first six furlongs, opening up by as much as six lengths on the backstretch, with Way to Be Marie some eight lengths in arrears in the early going. The field began to bunch up on the turn, but Sophie’s Cruiser refused to yield and had a one-length lead in midstretch. With one final surge, Way to Be Marie caught her in the final strides to win the four-horse photo.

Now with a total of seven stakes wins and placings to her name, Way to Be Marie is 4-5-2 in 16 starts and has earned $853,200 for owner Twin Oaks Bloodstock LLC. The bay 5-year-old was bred in Kentucky by William B. Harrigan and Mike Pietrangelo. Way to Be Marie hails from the family of Grade 1 winners Bet Twice and Golden Treat.

Among Not This Time’s five graded winners are Magnitude, Claret Beret and Nearly, the latter a leading contender for this year’s Kentucky Derby (G1).