Love Appeals looks to get back on track in Incredible Revenge
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Of course, 34-year-old Miguel Clement walked into a ready-made stable when he took over head training duties from his father after the esteemed, beloved Christophe Clement died in early June. It did not take an eagle eye to see, with his first starters at Saratoga, Miguel Clement carried on his shoulders both the sadness of his father’s passing and the weight of expectations.
The appearance by Love Appeals Sunday at Monmouth Park in the $100,000 Incredible Revenge both traces back to the Christophe Clement era and shows how Miguel Clement has kept a steady hand on the stable’s management. The younger Clement has shipped six horses to race at Monmouth and won with the last three of them. Love Appeals hasn’t raced since May, when Christophe still held the reins. Two summers ago, she just missed winning the Blue Sparkler Stakes, a Monmouth turf sprint, and last summer, after a Monmouth allowance prep, she captured the Incredible Revenge.
A 5-year-old Moyglare Stud homebred, Love Appeals comes into the Incredible Revenge, a 5 1/2-furlong grass dash, not just after a layoff approaching three months, but following two of her worst performances. In December, she failed to handle the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park, finishing ninth in the Holiday Inaugural. And as the 6-5 favorite May 4 in the License Fee, a turf sprint at Aqueduct, Love Appeals mustered no rally, checking in an even fourth of six.
That Love Appeals barely lifted her hooves in the License Fee, and that she worked back three weeks later and has since kept to a steady breeze pattern, suggests the mare can rebound Sunday under Samy Camacho. Her two Monmouth wins came in five-furlong contests, meaning Love Appeals has ample quickness for a turf course that often rewards athletic, nimble horses either with a quick burst or potent speed.
Several pace factors start in the Incredible Revenge, which drew a dozen entrants, 10 in the field’s main body and two more entered main-track only, though the weather forecast says this race stays on grass. None of the pace players, save Etrurian, looks capable of clearing off and dictating tempo, and when Etrurian shook loose June 21 in the Goldwood at Monmouth, she wound up fading to fifth.
Simply Stated could merit a second look at a good price. Michael Trombetta, aces with grass sprinters, has trained the 5-year-old for her last six starts. In her first 20 outings Simply Stated raced without blinkers, but in a July 17 Colonial Downs turf-sprint allowance, Trombetta tried the mare in blinkers and got a career-best performance. Rallying from 10th, Simply Stated got up to win by one length.
She’ll need something even stronger if Love Appeals runs Sunday for the son like she did a year ago for the father.
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