Cristophe Clement
Christophe Clement could receive racing’s highest honor when the 2024 inductees into the sport’s Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, Ne2w York are announced later this month.
The dapper Frenchman is certainly a worthy candidate. He has saddled over 2,400 winners and his horses have earned $170 million, ranking Clement 12th on the all-time list.
Cristophe Clement May Saddle his First Kentucky Derby Starter This Year
His Gio Ponte was a three-time Eclipse Award winner, and Clement won the 2014 Belmont Stakes (G1) with Tonalist.
It was an impressive resume laid before the Hall of Fame voting panel. However, a close inspection of Clement’s ledger reveals one glaring omission: he has never won a Kentucky Derby (G1).
Let’s take it another step: Clement has never entered a horse in the Derby. That could change this year, thanks to Deterministic, the 7-5 favorite Saturday in the $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct.
Deterministic
The Wood winner earns 100 Derby qualifying points, more than enough to secure a spot in the race. The colt, undefeated in two starts, could punch both his and Clement’s Derby ticket if he keeps the winning streak alive against 12 rivals in the 1 1/8-mile test.
Deterministic is the star in an otherwise underwhelming lineup.
The son of Liam’s Map broke slowly in his debut at Saratoga last summer, got bumped around and was fanned six-wide before rallying for the win. An ankle chip that required surgery sidelined him until last month when he returned to capture the Gotham Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct with a determined effort in the slop. His speed figures took a leap forward in the Gotham, pointing him in the right direction for this Derby qualifying bid.
Deterministic earned 50 Derby points with the Gotham win, likely enough to make the race. A Wood win, or even a second-place finish worth another 50 points, would push him solidly up the leaderboard.
“He’s trained very well all year long and came back very well, very straightforward,” Clement said. “All his works have been very good and he’s a very athletic kind of horse – the most beautiful mover. He barely touches the ground and moves like a cat. He’s good mentally, too.”
Tuscan Sky, one of two entrants for trainer Todd Pletcher along with the maiden Protective, is the 4-1 second choice. Like Deterministic, Tuscan Sky is 2-for-2. However, those wins were an Aqueduct maiden race and a first-level allowance at the Fair Grounds. He is an unknown quantity at the stakes level.
His ace in the hole could be Pletcher, a seven-time winner of this race
Uncle Heavy
Uncle Heavy won the Big A’s Withers Stakes (G3) back in February and took the worst of it in the Wood post draw with No. 13.
El Grande O is the most experienced runner in the race with 11 starts on his card. He missed by only a nose to Uncle Heavy in the Withers and ran third to Deterministic in the Gotham. He has already won three times, but all came in races restricted to New York breds.
The picks: 1 Deterministic 2 Tuscan Sky 3 El Grande O
The field for the $750,000 Wood Memorial (G2), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Resilience (John Velazquez, Bill Mott), 6-1
2 El Grande O (Dylan Davis, Linda Rice), 8-1
3 Lonesome Boy (Adam Bowman, Hugo Padilla), 50-1
4 Deterministic (Joel Rosario, Christophe Clement), 7-5
5 Protective (Kendrick Carmouche, Todd Pletcher), 30-1
6 Evening News (Jareth Loveberry, Michael Pino), 20-1
7 Merit (Edwin Gonzalez, Saffie Joseph, Jr.), 20-1
8 Elysian Meadows (Jose Lezcano, Bill Mott), 15-1
9 Tuscan Sky (Manny Franco, Todd Pletcher), 4-1
10 Gettysburg Address (Emmanuel Esquivel, Dallas Stewart), 30-1
11 Society Man (Luis Rivera, Jr., Danny Gargan), 30-1
12 Deposition (Dexter Haddock, Uriah St. Lewis), 50-1
13 Uncle Heavy (Mychel Sanchez, Robert Reid, Jr.), 8-1