Clement mulls options for two impressive turf-sprint winners
ELMONT, N.Y. -- In a span of an hour Sunday at Belmont Park, trainer Christophe Clement had two turf sprinters turn in exceptionally strong performances.
The 3-year-old Big Invasion successfully stretched out to seven furlongs by winning the $100,000 Paradise Creek Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths over Asymmetric. He ran seven furlongs in a quick 1:20.34 over a firm turf and earned a 93 Beyer Speed Figure.
About an hour earlier, the 5-year-old Voodoo Zip came with a monster rally to win a third-level allowance by a half-length. His final time of 1:07.29 for six furlongs translated into a 93 Beyer Speed Figure as well.
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For Big Invasion, it was his third consecutive stakes win and fourth straight victory overall. Clement said he is likely to keep the horse at sprint distances and is eyeing the Grade 3, $175,000 Quick Call Stakes at Saratoga on July 17.
However, Clement did not entirely rule out trying to stretch Big Invasion out to a mile, with the $100,000 Manila Stakes here on July 4 a potential option.
“Most probably we’ll get him ready for the Quick Call, but we don’t have to decide now,” Clement said Monday. “We don’t have a wide choice of races. There’s a stakes going a mile here, but he’s got so much speed maybe we’ll just keep sprinting him.”
Voodoo Zip rebounded from a 10th-place finish as the favorite in a Gulfstream allowance in April with a strong late run Sunday to win for the fourth time in 14 starts. Clement said the Grade 1 Jaipur on June 11 comes back too quick so he may look out of town for Voodoo Zip’s next start.
“I ran him at Gulfstream, he was supposed to win. He ran a terrible race and I did not understand why, so I started back from scratch,” Clement said. “I thought it was a very impressive race [Sunday]. Let’s see how he comes out of it. Most probably we’ll go in a stakes next time.”