Clement Racing Stable continues to thrive under Miguel Clement’s leadership following the passing of his father, renowned trainer Christophe Clement, who died of a rare form of cancer on May 25.
Miguel has maintained the stable’s elite status in New York racing, compiling an impressive 26-for-115 record as of August 6, including eight stakes victories — four of them graded and two at the Grade I level.
“The pressure was unbearable sometimes, but it’s okay,” Clement said during his appearance as the Gainesway Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. “You just have to deliver and winning takes care of a lot of things.”
The stable’s standout performer has been Deterministic (Liam’s Map), who captured the GI Manhattan Stakes just 14 days after Christophe’s passing and recently added the GI Fourstardave Stakes to his résumé.
“Winning the Manhattan was overwhelming, to say the least,” Clement reflected. “I started the week as a winless trainer and ended the week as a Grade I-winning trainer. There was a lot going on that week. Winning that race was great, very rewarding. It was very meaningful for many, many, many reasons, and it was a big welcome distraction for both the stable and my family.”
While maintaining the turf-focused approach that defined his father’s three-decade career in New York, Miguel expressed interest in expanding the stable’s dirt presence.
“I would love to have more dirt horses in the barn,” he said. “So, if anyone’s watching and they have good dirt horses, we will always have a stall for them. Truthfully, it’s a bit tough to say that. The truth is, when my dad first came over from Europe, the overwhelming majority of the stable was from European ownership and a clientele. So in that regard, you can understand how he started off with mostly grass horses.”
The podcast, also sponsored by 1/st Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders’ Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, the KTOB and XBTV.com, featured the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss reviewing the Whitney Stakes and other Grade I races from Saratoga’s Saturday card.
In the “Fastest Horse of the Week” segment sponsored by WinStar, the panel highlighted Seismic Beauty (Uncle Mo), who earned a 110 Beyer figure in her victory in the GI Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar.
Additional topics included the controversial disqualification of Zulu Kingdom (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) in the GII Hall of Fame Stakes and a preview of Saturday’s Colonial Downs card featuring the GI Arlington Million Stakes.
