Trainer Christophe Clement sports a record of 26-7-4-2 at the Belmont Park spring/summer meet in Elmont, N.Y., winning at a 27 percent clip going into Saturday's card, and will look to add to those totals next Saturday where he will saddle a number of stakes contenders.
In the Grade 1, $250,000 Jaipur presented by America's Best Racing, Clement has 9-year-old seasoned veteran Pure Sensation, winner of the 2016 Jaipur, as well as stakes winners Shekky Shebaz and White Flag under consideration.
Patricia Generazio's Pure Sensation, a veteran of 36 lifetime starts, owns 11 stakes victories, including four wins in the G3 Turf Monster at Parx Racing. He is closing in on the $2 million mark having banked $1,998,550. He has not raced since finishing fifth in last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita.
White Flag, a Robert Evans homebred, won the 2017 Allied Forces at Belmont Park and the 2018 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship. The son of War Front has placed against graded stakes company three times, including a third-place effort in the G1 Highlander at Woodbine in September.
A winner of the Lucky Coin at Saratoga last summer, Shekky Shebaz was third in the G1 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint in November.
“Pure Sensation, Shekky Shebaz and White Flag are possible for the Jaipur, we'll decide over the weekend,” said Clement.
Clement plans on sending G1 winner Decorated Invader for the G2, $150,000 Pennine Ridge over the Widener Turf Course. Owned by Terry Finley's West Point Thoroughbreds, William T. Freeman, William Sandbrook and Cheryl Manning, the sophomore son of Declaration of War won his 2020 debut in the Cutler Bay on March 28 at Gulfstream Park.
Following a second-out maiden triumph at Saratoga, Decorated Invader bested G1 company in the Summer at Woodbine en route to a fourth-place finish in the G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita.
“Decorated Invader has done very well,” Clement said. “Physically, he's very nice to look at, he's impressive in his works and impressive in his races.”
Clement is also thinking ahead with two of his winners this meet and said that Friday allowance winner Wegetsdamunnys could return in either the $100,000 Mount Vernon on July 2 against her New York-bred counterpart or the 80,000 River Memories against open company going 1 ½-miles on the turf.
“[The Mount Vernon] is 20 days out but we'll try to do it. Another option is the mile-and-a-half [River Memories] stake at the end of the meet, so we'll have a look at that,” Clement said.
A five-time winner, Scott Krase and Peter G. Stokes' Wegetsdamunnys, bred in the Empire State by Wellspring Stables, is still in search of a first stakes victory. Friday's victory was her first start since finishing eighth in the G3 Long Island on November 30 at Aqueduct.
Clement said Oak Bluff Stables' New York-bred Therapist could race in either the $100,000 Kingston going 1 1/16 miles on July 5 or the $75,000 Banrock going six furlongs on July 9.
“He's doing well,” said Clement. “We have two choices he has could sprint going six furlongs or go towards a mile and a sixteenth. We'll just train him and let him tell me which way we'll go.”
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