Walk Close comes through for Clement in Wild Applause Stakes

ELMONT, N.Y. – Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Trainer Christophe Clement narrowly wins a stakes race at Belmont Park with a 3-year-old offspring of Tapit.

Two weeks ago, it was the 3-year-old colt Tonalist running down Commissioner to win the Belmont Stakes by a head. On Saturday, it was the 3-year-old filly Walk Close out-finishing the game longshot Wave the Flag to win the $100,000 Wild Applause Stakes by a nose.

“I do like Tapit by the way,” said Clement, who won his fifth stakes race of this meet.

Walk Close, owned by Highland Yard, is now 3 for 3 in her career after the narrow win, one in which she saved ground early under Irad Ortiz Jr. and finished strongly while forced to travel five wide down the lane. She seemed emboldened by Wave the Flag running with her to her outside.

Clement said that Walk Close always takes “a sixteenth of a mile to really get going,” but once she gets going, “she always finishes pretty well,” Clement added.

The win was the fourth on the card for Ortiz.

“She broke good today, put me in a good position, and I saved ground,” Ortiz said. “The trainer told me you have to call on her a little early because she’s a little one-paced, but when she gets clear, she takes off. I started moving early – that worked for us – when she got clear she took off. She was really fighting in the end.”

Wave the Flag finished second by a half-length over Sweet Acclaim, the 3-5 favorite. She was followed, in order, by Super Sky, Nisharora, Holabird, Courtesan, and My Jolie.

Walk Close covered the mile in 1:35.71 over a firm Widener turf course and returned $10.60 to win.

Clement said the Grade 2, $200,000 Lake George Stakes at Saratoga on July 23 is a logical next target for Walk Close.