Clement gets off to hot start at Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Christophe Clement had an excellent start to his Saratoga meet by winning five races over the weekend, including a pair of turf stakes for 3-year-olds.

While Decorated Invader was expected to win Saturday’s Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes, Speaktomeofsummer went off the third choice at 9-2 in the Grade 2, $150,000 Lake Placid. She split horses in deep stretch under Joel Rosario and beat Stunning Sky by a head. She earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 86.

Speaktomeofsummer is owned by longtime client Thomas Moore, who races under the banner Waterford Stable. Together Clement and Moore campaigned Summer Front, who is the sire of Speaktomeofsummer.

“Mr. Moore put a lot of money and a lot of time trying to develop the stallion as well, “ Clement said. “It’s nice because he gets rewarded with a graded stakes win at Saratoga.”

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Clement said he would consider running Speaktomeofsummer in the $500,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational on Aug. 16.

Clement is planning to run Decorated Invader and most likely Gufo in the $500,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational on Aug. 15.

On Saturday, Decorated Invader passed his first distance test when he won the Hall of Fame by 1 1/4 lengths going 1 1/8 miles. It was his third victory in as many starts this year, the other two coming at one mile.

“I thought his last sixteenth of a mile in the race was probably his best sixteenth of a mile, so knowing we ran him a mile and an eighth yesterday, as of now you’d have to believe he would stay,” Clement said.

Decorated Invader, a son of Declaration of War, earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

Gufo was entered in the Hall of Fame Stakes as an option, but Clement scratched him with an eye toward the Saratoga Derby. Gufo has won four consecutive starts, including the Grade 3 Kent on July 4 at Delaware Park.

On Saturday, Clement won a 2-year-old maiden race with Momos, a son of Distorted Humor, and on Sunday Clement won a 2-year-old turf sprint with Mischievous Dream, a filly by Into Mischief who beat boys, including the Clement-trained Wicked Easy.

Clement said he ran the filly against boys because the filly race failed to fill three days in a row.

“It worked out because the colt did not run any good, so thank God I had the filly,” said Clement, whose other winner came with the claimer Releasethethunder.

The five wins to start the Saratoga meet put him second only to Chad Brown’s six. Clement finished second to Brown in the trainer standings at Belmont Park.

“It’s fun,” Clement said. “They’re running well, we had a very good Belmont meet, and we obviously have a very good group of horses. I also have plenty of horses. A lot of owners have been waiting to run, so we need to run as much as we can.”