Willow trees, the “therapy bench,” graduate-level father/son banter, conversations in French and English (with some translation, maybe), a dose of racing history – and world-class horses – are just a few of the items in a typical morning at the Saratoga Race Course barn of trainer Christophe Clement and his assistant/son Miguel.
Between Shug McGaughey and Bill Mott in a barn Hall of Famers MacK Miller and P.G. Johnson called home, Clement completes a trifecta of quality just beyond the first turn of the Oklahoma Training Track. His horses move in every spring and stay through autumn, eschewing spillover stalls at the harness track in favor of an active second division at Belmont Park. The trainer needs six wins to get to 2,500 for his career and looks to maintain a five-year streak of cracking Saratoga’s top five trainers.
“First of all, we have a very good team of key people in the barn and it takes everyone to do the
job,” Clement said of the stable’s success, crediting Miguel, longtime assistant Christophe Lorieul, Devon Dougherty and Lee Vickers. “Obviously, to be involved with your son is a great luxury. We did everything we could for him to get away. He had a different internship as far as possible from horse racing, working in banks, working for different things. I was hoping for Duke to expose him to
other things instead of horse racing. But you know what? He came back and it’s great.”
Miguel wasn’t having another career and went from Duke University to the Godolphin Flying
Start racing education program to stints with international trainers Mike de Kock in South Africa and Hugo Palmer in England.
“My whole life,” Miguel said, about how long he wanted to work with horses. “We work very
well together, but it can be tough too. You share your victories, your upside, your moments. It’s
great when you share it together. Then, the bad day is amplified by two as well . . . It weighs that much more when you both lose.”
Maybe that’s why it’s called the therapy bench, a simple-but-comfortable spot shaded by a willow
between shed rows. The Special’s Joe Clancy sat down Sunday morning and talked horses. Clement
came with an early question, “So, do we talk about every horse?” Informed that The Special probably couldn’t handle that, we opted for as many as made sense while waiting for turf works.
Big Invasion
Reeves Thoroughbred Racing’s 5-year-old turf sprinter is closing in on $1 million in earnings. He won twice at Saratoga in 2022 and was second in last year’s Harvey Pack Stakes before winning the Nearctic and coming up a neck short in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Seven-time stakes winner exits a second, also by a neck, at Aqueduct July 4. Sunday morning, he was fresh off the van and
picking some grass. “He got beat the other day and I have not recovered from it yet. He took that last race very well and we need to find him another spot. You’ve got two stakes coming up here (the Troy Aug. 3 and the Pack Sept. 2) so we will see.”
Drake’s Passage
The Shel Evans homebred won the Commentator for New York-breds here last month and was third to distance specialist Next in the Grade 2 Brooklyn July 5. The 4-year-old son of the Clement-trained Tonalist aims for the Evan Shipman Aug. 9. “He looks the most like Tonalist of the ones we have trained. He’s got the same markings, the same physical to him. He ran a very honest race the last time, he was beaten by that freak who just wins all of those races. That horse . . . don’t meet him, that’s my advice. Drake’s Passage should be very competitive in the stakes here.”
Pandagate
Owned by Adelphi Racing Club, Madaket Stable, Corms Racing Stable and On The Rise Again Stable, the 3-year-old will try to give the stable a repeat in the Albany, which Drake’s Passage won in 2023. The 2022 Fasig-Tipton New York yearling graduate won the New York Derby at Finger Lakes July 15, his first start since a third in the U.A.E. Derby in Dubai. “Is he the only horse to do Dubai to Finger Lakes? I don’t know. He might be. He is doing great and he will be trained for one of the major dirt races at the end of the month. Obviously, the Albany (Aug. 25) is the logical spot, even if I don’t think we should take him off from any of the open-company races.”
Parnac
French-bred mare finished fifth in the Sheepshead Bay, her first start of 2024, in May and eyes the Glens Falls for West Point Thoroughbreds and Dream With Me Stable Aug. 1. Won the Flower Bowl here last year. “She needed to run. She’s improved from the race. She’s going to work this morning on the turf with another horse called Carson’s Run.” A half-hour later, the duo came off the East
Avenue turn on the Oklahoma turf course. “They need to pick it up a bit . . . that’s good. That was a good work, nothing too fast but the right way.” The clockers got them in :51 for a half-mile, and Clement emphasized the 1:02 3/5 gallop out.
Carson’s Run
A Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July graduate, 3-year-old colt won twice last year – a Saratoga maiden and the Grade 1 Summer Stakes – for West At Aqueduct April 27, the son of Cupid veered out sharply on the final turn for jockey Dylan Davis and got disqualified from fourth to fifth. “It’s a very weird thing what happened to him. I don’t understand it. The only thing we’re doing now is we’re trying to keep him as balanced as we can in the last turn, so we don’t push him out.” The chestnut put that behind him by winning Monmouth Park’s Tale Of The Cat Stakes June 23 and will aim for the Hall of Fame Stakes Aug. 2 or Saratoga Derby the next day. “He was impressive at Monmouth. He won the right way coming from off the place, going away. The way he won, you think that he might want to go farther . . . do you keep him at a mile or do you go a mile and three-sixteenths?”
Roses For Debra
Eight-time winner opened 2024 by taking Keeneland’s Giant’s Causeway in April, then lost the Intercontinental by a head to Future Is Now here June 7. Owned by Cheyenne Stable and John O’Meara, the daughter of Liam’s Map won two Saratoga turf sprint stakes last summer, and looks to repeat as the 8-5 favorite in tomorrow’s Caress against Future Is Now and eight others. “We have
three turf-sprinting fillies who are very good. She’s a top-class filly. She got beat, but she ran very well in the June race.”
Dontlookbackatall
A Pennsylvania-bred like Roses For Debra, 4-year-old Peace And Justice filly is also in the Caress. Owned by West Point, Scarlet Oak Racing and Titletown Racing Stables, she won the License Fee in May and the Power By Far at Parx Racing in June. “She won the Pennsylvania-restricted stakes last time. This is tougher, but she’s also doing very well.”
Gal In A Rush
Second to Dontlookbackatall in the License Fee and fourth in the Intercontinental, the 5-year-old daughter of Ghostzapper won Woodbine’s Hendrie Stakes July 6. Owned by West Point, Chris
Larsen and Titletown, she’s won or placed in five stakes after making her debut here in 2021. “Last but not least. She is very good too. She’s eligible for a stakes at Ellis Park in August, a stakes at Woodbine in August and a stakes in Saratoga. I’m not sure where she will go yet.”
Deterministic
Won his debut here last summer and opened 2024 with a win in the Grade 3 Gotham to briefly get on the Triple Crown trail before back-to-back defeats on the dirt. Owned by St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Steven Duncker and Vicarage Stable, the son of Liam’s Map finished second in his turf debut in the Manila Stakes at Aqueduct June 29 and heads for the Saratoga Derby Aug. 3. “I’ve always thought he was going to be on the grass. The Manila was a touch short for him, going a mile. Robert Atras won the race because his horse (Neat) has quite a bit more speed, but Deterministic went well. He was a little bit taken for speed from the half-mile to the quarter pole. When Dylan got
him leveled off and balanced in the stretch . . . he lengthened. That’s the word I was looking for. He finished very well, galloped out in front. He very much looked more like a mile-and-an-eighth, mile-and-aquarter horse. That’s the reason why we’ll train him for the Saratoga Derby.”
Spirit Prince
Like Carson’s Run and Deterministic, a 3-year-old turf horse with stakes on the horizon. Owned by Oakwood Stable, Scott Krase, Donarra Thoroughbreds, Kenneth and Gail Beitz, the son of Cairo
Prince broke his maiden in a stakes last fall and opened 2024 with a second here in June and a third in Delaware Park’s Kent Stakes. “He is a nice horse too, but maybe you just need a little bit of an easier race than the Saratoga Derby.”
Silver Skillet
Twice a winner here last summer, the 4-year-old filly rides another two-race winning streak after stakes scores at Saratoga and Aqueduct. Fasig-Tipton New York yearling graduate will turn up in a New York-bred stakes at the meet for Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Tango Uniform Racing and Steven Rocco. “She’s a very versatile filly. She’s won off the turf. She’s won on the turf. She’s won on dirt. She’s eligible for the De La Rose. She’s eligible for the Yaddo. She belongs to a great partnership and has been a fun filly.”
Atomic Blonde and La Mehana
They exit the Robert Dick Memorial at Delaware Park July 7 and target the Glens Falls at Saratoga Aug. 1. “It’s a little bit quick because unfortunately . . . it’s so difficult to work together in this country, which is extraordinary when you think about it. It should be at least four weeks between these races and it’s not. They could help each other. Anyway, forget that. La Mehana and Atomic Blonde could be possible for the Glen Falls, or otherwise, we’ll bring them back later on. Let’s not forget, we’ve got a race called the Flower Bowl at the end of the meet. They’re both doing well and it could be a fun race. It’s going to be tough, but it’s OK to be tough.”
Moment’s Notice
Owned by West Point, Donarra and CJ Stable, the Fasig-Tipton October graduate finished third in his debut here July 13. “We’ll find another spot for him, in three or four weeks, but he ran a good race, short on dirt.”
Annascaul
Don’t even try to pronounce it. The Irish village in County Kerry is the birthplace of Antarctic explorer Tom Crean. Waterville Lake Stable’s homebred 2-year-old daughter of American Pharoah and $306,000 Clement earner Epping Forest didn’t make the program for her debut last week. “We’re frustrated because she got excluded. She’s a nice filly. I need the boss to tell me if we want to go to open company or not. She’s training forwardly and it is a lot of fun because it’s an owner/breeder relationship that we have had for generations.”
Vespera
Owned by Reeves and Steven Rocco, 2-year-old Volatile filly breezed from the gate Sunday and is eyeing a debut. Like Annascaul, she’s “training forwardly” and sitting on her first start.
Davy Crockett
“King of the wild frontier . . .” A Name of the Day candidate, 2-year-old colt bred by WinStar Farm is by Constitution out of America’s Tale. “We like him. He wants to go long, probably on the grass.”
Tawny Port, Far Bridge and Soldier Rising
Like the stable’s turf-sprinting and long-distance distaffers, these guys just go together in distance turf races. Each is a millionaire. All three could show up in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer on Travers Day, or another major race. Tawny Port (third, beaten a neck) and Far Bridge (ninth) exit Monmouth’s United Nations Saturday, while Soldier Rising looks to make his 2024 debut. “They’re all very nice horses to have. Over the next two weeks, we can make a decision about who should compete in the Sword Dancer.”
In June, Clement watched Soldier Rising walk on the ring and lamented a just-miss 2023 where he was second in four New York Grade 1 turf stakes – the Manhattan, Man O’ War, Sword Dancer and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. “This is a nice horse. We gave him the winter off and he’s coming back now. The year has gone by quickly, so we have to get going.” The Frankel gelding has breezed five times
on the Saratoga turf since.
Miss City Girl
Three-year-old half-sister to multiple stakes winner City Man finished second at Aqueduct June 14, her first start since a November debut and gets back to work in Saturday’s 12th race going a mile on the turf. Before she ran in June, Miguel watched her get ready to gallop and said, “We shouldn’t have run her last year. She’s just not made to be a 2-year-old. I’ll be very disappointed if she’s not competitive this year.”
Bettrluckythangood
Twice a Fasig-Tipton graduate, 4-year-old New York bred has won two of three this year and finished fourth in Sunday’s finale a few hours after the stable tour conversation. “We got a remarkable ride from Dylan Davis last time (Aqueduct June 20) . . . Today is a different set up because it’s a tougher race, but we like him. He went really, really well the last time.”
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