INDIANTOWN, Fla. – Though he has already won a Triple Crown race in his career, trainer Christophe Clement is not a name one typically associates with the Triple Crown trail. Saturday, Clement will see if he has a potential Kentucky Derby contender in Otello, the Mucho Macho Man Stakes winner who starts in the Grade 3, $250,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. It will be Clement’s first starter in a traditional Derby prep at this track, though he did run By George (sixth) in the Grade 3 Swale Stakes in 2021. Otello, a son of Curlin, is 2 for 2 in his career, overcoming some traffic in both his maiden victory at Aqueduct in November and in the ungraded Mucho Macho Man on Jan. 1 at Gulfstream. Otello is owned in partnership by WinStar Farm and Siena Farm, which has four horses with Clement. That group includes Military Road, a 3-year-old son of Quality Road who finished third on debut and will likely run back in a maiden race in mid-February. “It gives us a chance to have some horses that usually don’t come our way,” said Clement, who, along with his son and assistant Miguel, maintain the bulk of their stable in the winter at Payson Park some two hours north of Gulfstream. “It’s exciting for us. We love having that type. It’s a level that’s a lot of fun to be at.” :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Clement, 58, has not had a starter in the Kentucky Derby. He has had three starters in the Belmont Stakes, a race he won in 2014 with Tonalist. That horse won his maiden at Gulfstream in January, got beat in an allowance in February before winning the Peter Pan Stakes, and then won the Belmont, where he defeated California Chrome who was attempting to sweep the Triple Crown. Prior to that, Clement’s biggest win on dirt came in 2009 with Funny Moon, who won the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. Since 2016, when Yellow Agate won the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont, Clement is 0 for 11 in graded races on dirt. For his career, Clement has won 243 graded turf stakes. He has 2,431 career victories. “Christophe is a great horseman, he’s had success with Tonalist and many other horses,” said Elliott Walden, president of WinStar Farm. “Sometimes, it’s unfair we get pigeonholed into a certain category. I don’t see that with Christophe. I think he’s overall a complete horseman and very capable.” Walden said it was Anthony Manganaro, the head of Siena Farm, who suggested to him a year ago that they give Clement some horses. Sadly, Manganaro passed away last August. Otello is out of Isabella Sings, a multiple turf graded stakes-winning mare. Walden said Clement, in discussions over the summer, was “complimentary on how he breezed on the dirt. That was encouraging to me, we want dirt horses.” In his debut, going a mile Nov. 24 at Aqueduct, Otello was bottled up behind horses approaching the quarter pole, split horses in midstretch, and won by a long neck over J D Factor. In the Mucho Macho Man, Otello again had some traffic, but jockey Luis Saez was able to get him out in the clear in the stretch, and he got up in the last two jumps to beat First World War by a half-length. “He got in trouble, he won. He’s trained well. He’s done nothing wrong,” Clement said. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Added Walden: “The thing I like about Otello, he’s always finishing his races and he’s always traveling well. He may not win by 10 lengths, but he’s always traveling like he’s got some horse. There’s something to be said about horses that win those close races. I’ve had plenty of them that don’t.” Coming out of the Mucho Macho Man, Clement said his choices were to run in the Holy Bull, where Otello will face 2-year-old champion Fierceness; wait for the Sam. F. Davis on Feb. 10, where he would face Grade 1 winner Locked and the promising Change of Command; or ship to New York for Saturday’s Grade 3 Withers, where he would most likely be favored. “We need to know if we belong with that group or not,” Clement said. “Otherwise, you could have some other choices. You can go to Dubai. We might as well find out earlier than later where we stand and then we go from there. I love the fact that Saez rode him and rode him very well.” Otello may not be Clement’s only good dirt 3-year-old. Earlier on Saturday’s Gulfstream card, he sends out debut winner Ari’s Magic in a first-level allowance going a mile. Also, Clement trains Deterministic, a son of Liam’s Map, for a partnership that includes longtime client Steve Duncker and relatively new client Vinnie and Teresa Viola. That horse won his debut at Saratoga last summer before going to the sidelines with an ankle chip. He has had three works this year and could make his seasonal debut in early March. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.