Deterministic might not have had it quite as easy in this year’s edition of the Grade 3 Fort Marcy Stakes, but the 3-5 favorite was ultimately untroubled in another gate-to-wire victory. Jockey Kendrick Carmouche was ecstatic to be back aboard in his 5-year-old debut. “I think he was a little tighter last year, but this year, he still proved to be the best horse in the race,” Carmouche said. “We’ve got room to improve. We only had him at 80, 90 percent.” The Fort Marcy was Deterministic’s first race since August, when he picked up his second straight Grade 1 victory in the Manhattan at Saratoga. He used the Fort Marcy as a prep for those two races, and after another commanding effort Saturday, trainer Miguel Clement has every reason to follow the same path this year. “Without a doubt, everything went his own way, but he's a very talented horse,” Clement said. “They put pressure on him, he can rate, so he's versatile in that sense. We got just exactly what we needed, a race before [the Manhattan on] Belmont Stakes week.” Carmouche said Deterministic’s action out of the gate was very smooth, giving him no indication that he had not raced for the better part of a year. The heavy favorite easily took over into the first turn of the 1 1/8-mile turf race, completing the opening quarter-mile in 24.90 seconds and the half-mile in 49.33. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Uncatalyzed, a Chad Brown-trained colt making his stakes debut, flashed early speed behind the pacesetter but faded on the backstretch. Battle of Normandy, a 6-1 outsider in the field of five, advanced into second on the far turn and made the only earnest bid for the lead. With a 2 1/2-length lead at the top of the stretch, Deterministic didn’t prove to be an overwhelming Fort Marcy winner, as he did when he won the race by 4 1/2 lengths last year. This time, he and Carmouche prevailed by three-quarters of a length, completing the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:48.44 and paying $3.38 to win. Deterministic’s win in the 2025 Fort Marcy was his last race for the late Christophe Clement, who guided him to four graded stakes victories in his first 11 starts. Miguel Clement said his father would have some choice advice for him now. “Dad would tell me not to mess it up, so we’re doing everything we can to not do so.” Battle of Normandy managed to cut into Deterministic’s advantage, but the Shug McGaughey trainee never challenged. He finished 4 3/4 lengths clear of Ridari, who drove up the rail late under Jaime Rodriguez before flattening out. Clement also entered Ridari, who rallied up the rail to finish third in his North American debut. The trainer said he intended to consider the 4-year-old colt for the Manhattan or Grade 3 Poker during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival next month, where he could climb the ladder with his stablemate or try a similar group at Saratoga. Waralo takes Elusive Quality It seemed like everyone had a shot at front-runner Waralo at the top of the stretch in the $150,000 Elusive Quality Stakes on Saturday. But with a determined ride from Ricardo Santana Jr., the 7-year-old gelding dug in and prevailed by a neck for his first stakes victory. “You can tell, this horse, he loves to fight,” Santana said. “And every time you feel the horses to his inside and outside, he just gives me another gear. To be honest, he did all the work today.” Earlier in the week, trainer Chris Englehart said he wouldn’t be surprised if Waralo needed a race off a six-month layoff. Though he was sure to go to the front end from the rail, he was also facing the likes of Twenty Six Black, who beat him last time out in the $200,000 New York Turf Sprint Championship, and graded stakes winner Clock Tower. It would have been understandable if he wilted in the six-furlong sprint. Santana, who was riding the New York-bred for the first time, managed to secure a familiar trip for the front-runner, sending him along on the front end through an opening quarter-mile in 22.37 seconds. He was still in control through a half-mile in 45.49, but Clock Tower was hounding him on the outside while Twenty Six Black slipped inside to try to snipe him on the rail. But when Waralo dug in for the stretch drive, Clock Tower seemed to back off with a clear lane down the center for trainer Wesley Ward. Twenty Six Black, while sharp off the layoff for Horacio De Paz, suddenly shied away from the tight gap on the rail, leaving jockey Jaime Rodriguez disappointed. “He’s a tough one, but I don’t think he likes to be in that spot,” Rodriguez said. “I think he likes to be in the clear. Once [Waralo] applied a little pressure, I think he got intimidated.” In an instant, Waralo went from a standing target to the last man standing. He completed the mile in 1:09.23 and paid $15.26 to win. Twenty Six Black made a belated move at the very end, but it was too late to seriously contend. He came up short by a neck and finished ahead of Clock Tower by the same margin in a tight three-way finish in the field of five. Clock Tower, who had a clear path in the stretch and could have won the race with a more compelling bid, was forced to settle for third as the 6-5 favorite. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.