Call Me Love takes River Memories, highlights Clement's three-win day
ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Christophe Clement capped a personal-best Belmont Park spring/summer meeting Sunday by winning three races on the closing-day card, including the $150,000 River Memories Stakes with Call Me Love.
Clement, who also won race 5 with Voodoo Zip and the finale with Tis a Pity, ended the meet with 27 wins, second only to Chad Brown (32) in the trainer standings. Clement’s previous best Belmont meet in his 30-year training career in the U.S. came in 2015, when he won 24 races.
“I’m a very lucky man, fast horses, good owners, great staff and everything combined. I’m very lucky and very grateful,” Clement said.
Call Me Love had been a bit of frustrating horse for Clement, having run second in a pair of graded stakes last year, but overall going winless in five starts. She was coming off a narrow allowance win here on May 23 at 1 1/16 miles. Clement felt Call Me Love’s pedigree - she’s a daughter of Sea the Stars out of a Rainbow Quest mare - suggested she could handle longer distances.
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“She’s run so well for me shorter than a mile and a half, it was difficult for me to believe that I should run her farther and obviously that was a mistake,” said Clement, who trains Call Me Love for R Unicorn Stable.
In Italy, when trained by Marco Botti, Call Me Love won two group stakes at 1 1/4 miles in 2019.
On Sunday, Call Me Love received a ground-saving trip from Junior Alvarado, sitting third behind Mutamakina and Civil Union, before coming off the rail and into the four-path turning for home.
When Civil Union retreated, Virginia Joy, the 6-5 favorite, pounced and was battling Mutamakina down the stretch. But Call Me Love had just a touch more than those two and got up in the final strides to beat Virginia Joy by a neck. It was a head back to Mutamakina in third.
Clement thought Call Me Love was going to be on the lead and Mutamakina would come from off of it. But Call Me Love didn’t break that well and Alvarado went to a different plan.
“I was supposed to be on the lead – even Christophe said I could be the speed of the race – but she broke a little flat-footed,” Alvarado said. “Going a mile and a half, I didn’t want to rush her to go to the lead. She did it nice and quiet. Turning for home, she started picking up very nicely.”
Call Me Love covered the 1 1/2 miles over good turf in 2:27.59 and returned $17.
Due to the conditions of the race, Call Me Love carried 118 pounds, six pounds fewer than Virginia Joy, whose lone group stakes victory came last July while Call Me Love’s two group wins came in 2019.
“It’s a bit disappointing giving six pounds to that horse when their form looks very similar,” said Brown, trainer of Virginia Joy. “She ran well but six pounds going a mile and a half on soft turf is significant.”
Jose Ortiz, Brown, are Belmont leaders
Jose Ortiz won two races on Sunday’s closing-day card to win his third Belmont Park spring/summer riding title with 59 wins, two more than his brother, Irad Ortiz Jr. The latter missed the final three days of the meet as he was serving out a careless-riding suspension.
Ortiz also won the Belmont spring/summer meet in 2017 and 2016. Following Irad Ortiz Jr. in this year’s standings were Manny Franco (52), Joel Rosario (43) and Luis Saez (37).
Meanwhile, trainer Chad Brown won his sixth straight spring/summer meet crown with 32 victories, five more than Clement. Rob Atras (19), Todd Pletcher (18) and Mike Maker (18) completed the top five.
Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables was the leading owner with 11 wins, followed by Mike Dubb (9), West Point Thoroughbreds (7), Wachtel Stable (6), Repole Stable (6), Noda Brothers (6) Peter Brant (6) and Three Diamonds Farm (6).