Clement enjoys strong presence in early-meet turf stakes
ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Christophe Clement, who enjoyed the most successful Belmont meet in his career during the spring, hopes to get the Belmont fall session off to a quick start with runners in four of the six flat stakes to be run opening weekend.
Clement will run Soldier Rising in Saturday’s $1 million Jockey Club Derby a day after he sends out two runners in both the Christiecat and Allied Forces – $100,000 turf sprint stakes for 3-year-old fillies and 3-year-olds, respectively. On Sunday, he plans to run Plum Ali in the $150,000 Pebbles Stakes.
“I’m very live,” said Clement, whose 27 wins from 135 starters at the Belmont spring meeting was a personal best since he started running horses here in 1991.
Soldier Rising, a Great Britain-bred gelding by Frankel, rallied from 10th to finish second to upset winner State of Rest in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby on Aug. 7. That was his first start in the U.S. after winning two of four starts in France for Andre Fabre.
“He ran a very good race in Saratoga,” Clement said Sunday. “He finished second, came on the rail, finished very well, and got beat by a Joseph O’Brien horse. “He’s trained well ever since. It’s been a perfect spot ever since, and I’m excited about it.”
On Sunday morning, when perusing the past performances, Clement felt that Yibir, a Group 2 winner at York for Charlie Appleby and Godolphin, was the horse to beat in the Jockey Club Derby.
On Monday, a new horse to beat may have emerged in Bolshoi Ballet, who won the Belmont Derby here in July. Bolshoi Ballet was scratched from Sunday’s Prix Niel at Longchamp due to an irregularity with the horse’s vaccination record against equine influenza and, according to NYRA stakes coordinator Andrew Brynes, is expected to arrive in New York on Tuesday for the Jockey Club Derby.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien had told reporters in Europe that the Prix Niel was a test to see if Bolshoi Ballet could handle 1 1/2 miles, the distance of the Arc de Triomphe in France. The Jockey Club Derby is also run at 1 1/2 miles.
The winner of the Jockey Club Derby earns a fees-paid berth into the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6.
Also in from Europe for the Jockey Club Derby is Tokyo Gold, runner-up to Bolshoi Ballet in the Belmont Derby. The U.S. contingent was expected to include Mira Mission, Step Dancer, Tango Tango Tango, and possibly Experienced and Slicked Back.
On Friday, Clement is expected to send out Bye Bye and Honey Pants in the Christiecat and Big Everest and Swashbuckle in the Allied Forces.
Bye Bye won the Grade 3 Soaring Softly here in May, while Honey Pants is 2 for 2 at Belmont. Swashbuckle won an allowance here in the spring, while Big Everest is coming off a maiden victory at Saratoga.
In Sunday’s Pebbles, Clement will be turning Plum Ali back in distance to a mile after unsuccessful attempts going longer in the Belmont Oaks and Saratoga Oaks.
On Sunday, Plum Ali worked a half-mile in company with Gufo, with both being credited with a half-mile move in 52 seconds. Gufo, winner of the Grade 1 Sword Dancer on Aug. 28, is pointing to the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic on Oct. 9.