“We worked him on Sunday [5f in 1:03.45 over the Belmont main track] and I was not satisfied with the work,” trainer Christophe Clement said of the 5-year-old gelding, campaigned by Madaket Stable, Michael Dubb, Morris Bailey, Wonder Stables and Michael J. Caruso. “He came back and I don't think he is as good as he could be–not bad, but when you go for such a long trip and such a prestigious race, you want to make sure everything is OK. I wasn't comfortable about it, so we'll give him a break and bring him back next year.”

The hard-knocking bay gelding, who has raced competitively with the likes of globetrotting multiple Grade I/Group 1 winners such as champion Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and State of Rest (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) since arriving on these shores in 2021, made six trips to the post this season. Though winless, he ran with credit, with four runner-up efforts in Grade I company, and most recently charged home to miss by a neck in the GII Red Smith S. at Aqueduct Nov. 11.

It has been 30 years since Clement ran his first horse in Hong Kong when Adam Smith (GB) (Sadler's Wells) finished eighth in the race then called the Hong Kong International Cup. Since then, he has started another half-dozen horses, the last coming with Winchester in the 2010 Vase. Pure Sensation was set to represent the stable in the 2016 Sprint and did make the trip over, but was withdrawn in the days leading up to the race.

With few options at home for Soldier Rising at this late juncture, Clement once again looked to Hong Kong.

“Soldier Rising ran a really nice race in the Red Smith and I thought he was doing well, so you just look at your choices,” he said. “The Vase has a big purse of $2 million and we are sure that he stays. So it was attractive at the time to think about it and think a little bit outside the box. But I am a New York trainer, the owners are New York-based and obviously he finished second five times in graded stakes this year, including four times in Grade Is. So that is the priority for next year. For now we'll play it safe and bring him back for the same sort of a program.”

While there are potential early-season targets in the Middle East for a horse like Soldier Rising, the timing isn't quite right, Clement said.

“He could have been one for Saudi or Dubai. I am certainly not against it, but the problem with that is that my idea was to try to go once more [in 2023] and then give him a break and have a fresh horse for next year,” he offered. “Now we are passing Hong Kong and still going to give him a break, which means we also need to pass Saudi and Dubai, as it comes too early.”

Still, it will come as no surprise if Clement circles Sha Tin on his calendar come next December.

“Maybe Big Invasion (Declaration of War) for the Sprint, too,” he said. “Good horses from America compete well in the Breeders' Cup and there's no reason they can't also do so overseas. International competition is good for all of us.”

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With Junior Alvarado at the controls for the first time, the $30,000 OBS June bargain lingered towards the back of the pack through the early exchanges, racing in the company of third favorite Stone Age (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), as Naipaul Chatterpaul special So High (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) went pedal to the metal from the fence beneath Romero Maragh. The latter was in a race of his own down the backstretch, opening up by as many as 20 lengths before odds-on Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), prepping for a title defense of his own in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, was first to attempt to make any inroads. So High continued on that long lead into the final three-eighths of a mile and while Rebel's Romance peaked on his run in upper stretch, War Like Goddess was pulled out by Alvarado into the center of the boggy course after rallying inside on the turn and steamed home for the victory. Soldier Rising (GB) (Frankel {GB}) ran on to complete the exacta ahead of So High in third. Rebel's Romance could do no better than fourth.

War Like Goddess would go on to be a low-odds third, with Stone Age, second in last year's Turf at Keeneland and returned to action with a victory in Keeneland's sex-restricted GIII Bewitch S. back in April. Well-beaten at 75 cents on the dollar in a slow-paced renewal of the GI New York S. June 9 at Belmont Park, War Like Goddess was most recently a neck second in the GII Glens Falls S. at Saratoga Aug. 3.

The Joe Hirsch was originally carded for last Saturday, Sept. 30, but the entire program was canceled due to pounding rains and was to run in the same order the following afternoon. The card went on as scheduled, but the Hirsch was re-routed to Saturday on what turned out to be another rain-swept afternoon on the south shore of Long Island. Because of the delay, trainer Bill Mott was non-committal about another crack at the Turf.

“It rushes us a little bit. It puts us a little closer, but we still have four weeks,” said the Hall of Famer, winning the race for the sixth time, the last four with the progeny of two-time Hirsch winner English Channel. “If she runs, she'll run against the boys. I won't run her a mile and a quarter. She's a mile-and-a-half filly.”

Of the beaten favorite, William Buick commented: “The ground was too soft. He had a beautiful run through. The leader stole the march, and the other two [War Like Goddess and Solider Rising] picked him off and I couldn't. I was struggling out there.”

Pedigree Notes:

Calumet Farm purchased Misty North for $30,000 in foal to 2011 Hirsch winner Cape Blanco (Ire) at the 2014 Keeneland November Sale and sold five foals out of the mare for a grand total of just over $10,000 before accepting $1,000 for the mare, pregnant to Bal a Bali (Brz), at KEENOV in 2019. Misty North has not produced a foal the last three season and was most recently covered by Burrow, a Candy Ride (Arg) half-brother to champion Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) and fellow Grade I-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Town (Speightstown).

#2 War Like Goddess returns to the winner's circle after beating the boys in the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic S. at Belmont at The Big A!

Bill Mott trains the 6-year-old mare and @juniorandkellya had the mount.

#TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/OCTAbodAtv

— TwinSpires Racing (@TwinSpires) October 7, 2023

Saturday, Belmont The Big A
JOE HIRSCH TURF CLASSIC S.-GI, $500,000, Belmont The Big A, 10-7, 3yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:32.86, yl.
1–WAR LIKE GODDESS, 123, m, 6, by English Channel
                1st Dam: Misty North, by North Light (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Misty Gallop, by Victory Gallop
                3rd Dam: Romanette, by Alleged
($1,200 Wlg '17 KEENOV; $1,000 RNA Ylg '18 KEESEP; $30,000
2yo '19 OBSOPN). O-George Krikorian; B-Calumet Farm (KY);
T-William I. Mott; J-Junior Alvarado. $275,000. Lifetime
Record: 17-11-2-2, $2,495,184.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Soldier Rising (GB), 126, g, 5, Frankel (GB)–Sahrawi (Ger),
by Pivotal (GB). (240,000gns RNA Ylg '19 TATOCT). O-Madaket
Stables LLC, Michael Dubb, Morris Bailey, Wonder Stables and
Michael J. Caruso; B-Dayton Investments Ltd. (GB);
T-Christophe Clement. $100,000.
3–So High (GB), 126, g, 7, Nathaniel (Ire)–Fugitive Angel,
by Alphabet Soup. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE,
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/T-Naipaul Chatterpaul; B-George
Strawbridge (GB). $60,000.
Margins: 4HF, 1, NK. Odds: 3.80, 8.70, 90.00.
Also Ran: Rebel's Romance (Ire), Stone Age (Ire), Grand Sonata, Pioneering Spirit, Astronaut.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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From the gate in the 1 3/8-mile Red Smith, Channel Cat took a one-length lead over the field of ten, setting early fractions of :24.96, :50.02, and 1:15.59, a moderate pace that left John Velazquez with plenty of horse for the stretch run. Serve the King hung back in fifth, nestled on the rail behind No Word and Price Talk. Around the far turn, No Word pulled within striking distance of Channel Cat, while Irad Ortiz Jr. moved Serve the King off the rail and to the outside of horses, six-wide into the stretch.

Down the Aqueduct straight, Channel Cat was able to shake off the challenge for No Word and increase his lead, but Ortiz had Serve the King set down for a drive, taking over the lead in the last strides to win by a neck over Channel Cat and a surging Soldier Rising. No Word was fourth and Shamrocket fifth. Corelli, Sanctuary City, Value Engineering, Price Talk, and Tide of the Sea rounded out the order of finish.

The final time for the 1 3/8 miles was 2:16.60. Find this race's chart here.

Serve the King paid $6.10, $3.80, and $2.60. Channel Cat paid $6.00 and $4.20. Soldier Rising paid $3.30.

“At a certain point of the race, he [Irad Ortiz, Jr.] said he just wanted to get him clear because he was losing the bit a little bit while inside. Once he got him to the clear, he picked up the bit again,
trainer Chad Brown said after the race. “A lot of credit goes to my Monmouth crew, who really did a good job helping this horse. As a younger horse, he was a little bit quirky and wouldn't want to train all the time and for whatever reason down there he has a comfortable situation and would train on. That's why he spent a lot of his time down there.”

“I had a really good trip. He broke sharp and was forwardly placed. He put me in a good position, so I saved all the ground for the whole race. At the half-mile, I started moving and he responded really well. I was able to tip him out and when he hit the clear, he was running,” Irad Ortiz Jr. told the NYRA Press Office after the Red Smith. “He was off the bit sometimes, but that's him. He's not a horse that's going to pull you all the way. That's not him. Sometimes, you have to wake him up and let him know he's running. He's there for you, that's the good thing.”

Bred in England by Normandie Stud, Serve the King is by Kingman (GB) out of the Galileo (IRE) mare Fallen In Love (GB). The 5-year-old horse is owned by Peter Brant. Consigned by Norris Bloodstock, the son of Kingman was purchased by White Birch Stable for $361,616 at the 2017 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. With his win in the G2 Red Smith, Serve the King has two wins in five starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of five wins in 11 starts and career earnings of $406,180.

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The chestnut son of Declaration of War was third in last Saturday's Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., six weeks after earning an entry into the Turf when capturing the “Win And You're In” Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Clement said a breeze next weekend will likely determine Gufo's Breeders' Cup status.

“We are training him to go to the Breeders' Cup at the moment,” Clement said. “I will speak to [Otter Bend Stables owner] Mr. Cainelli in the coming week for the plan and we'll make a decision. He'll breeze next weekend and then we'll assess him after the work.”

Never out of the money in a baker's dozen lifetime starts, Gufo captured the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational last October and the Grand Couturier in July at Belmont. He was a respective second and third in his first two starts of the year in the Man o' War and Manhattan, both Grade 1 races at Belmont. He has banked earnings of nearly $1.2 million.

On Saturday morning, Clement breezed his graded stakes-placed pair Soldier Rising and City Man in company over the Belmont inner turf in :47.20.

Second in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational and Jockey Club Derby Invitational, the last two legs of the Turf Triple series, Soldier Rising will target the $400,000 Grade 2 Hill Prince next Saturday at Belmont Park.

City Man, a three-time New York-bred stakes winner, will make his next start in the $200,000 Mohawk as part of a lucrative Empire Showcase Day on October 30.

“They worked a touch quick, but they worked well,” Clement said. “They came back in good order and are in good shape so far. Solider Rising will go to the Hill Prince and City Man is on target for the Mohawk.”

Soldier Rising will see a significant cutback in distance in the nine-furlong Hill Prince after finishing second in the Jockey Club Derby at 1 ½ miles.

“With the way he worked today, I think he'll be okay,” Clement said.

Also on the work tab for Clement was Moyglare Stud Farm's four-time winner Beautiful Lover, who went an easy half-mile in :52.10. The 5-year-old Arch mare will target the $100,000 Zagora on October 31 at Belmont.

“She worked well. It was a slow, but by design. She finished up nicely,” Clement said.

A last-out fifth in the Grade 3 Fasig-Tipton Waya on October 3, Beautiful Lover defeated eventual graded stakes-placed Miss Teheran in a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming tilt on June 27 at Belmont. She secured a stakes win in capturing the Boiling Springs in 2019 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., and earned graded stakes black-type last season when second in the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay Downs in Tampa, Fla., and the Grade 3 Matchmaker at Monmouth.

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Trained by Christophe Clement, the son of Declaration of War was a last-out winner of the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Invitational on August 28 at Saratoga, where he fended off a stretch rally from the Aidan O'Brien-trained multiple Group 1-winner Japan.

“It was an easy work on his own on the turf,” Clement said. “We'll work him back on the turf next week to be a little more aggressive. He looked good.”

Never off the board in a dozen starts, Gufo commenced his 4-year-old campaign with a second-place finish beaten a nose in the Grade 1 Man o' War before rallying from 17 lengths off the pace to finish third beaten four lengths to Domestic Spending in the Grade 1 Manhattan.

Gufo, who captured the Grade 1 Belmont Derby and Grade 1 Hollywood Derby last year, regained his winning form when stretching out to 1 ½ miles under regular rider Joel Rosario for the Grand Couturier on July 5 at Belmont where he added blinkers for the first time.

Clement said Gufo has shown improvement when adding blinkers.

“He was a bit more aggressive than usual last time, but it all worked out,” Clement said. “I think it's always a question of pace. Wherever Joel is comfortable, I'm happy usually. Blinkers on gives him a little more cruising speed. Joel never had to hit him, and the horse was a bit more consistent in the stretch. He wasn't erratic like sometimes he can be. He looked better.”

Gufo will attempt to become the fourth horse in the past decade to sweep the Sword Dancer-Joe Hirsch double, joining Channel Maker [2020], Main Sequence [2014], and Point of Entry [2012].

On Saturday, Clement saddled Soldier Rising to a runner-up finish to Yibir in the Jockey Club Derby Invitational. The son of Frankel raced along the hedge in fourth down the backstretch with a ground-saving trip and launched his bid once finding racing room in upper stretch, finishing 2 ½ lengths behind Yibir.

He was second in his previous outing in the Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational on August 7 at the Spa, where he was a rallying second to Irish invader State of Rest.

“He ran really well. He looked good and came back from his race in good shape,” Clement said. “He's a very nice horse. We just have to keep him sound. We'll run him maybe once or twice more, but I'm not sure where yet. Then we should have a very nice horse for next year.”

Clement shipped two-time allowance winner La Dragontea to Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario, for a victory in the Grade 2 Canadian on Saturday. The Lope de Vega dark bay or brown filly displayed stalking tactics while under a strong hold by Rosario down the backstretch. Rosario did not coax his filly until mid-stretch, where she extended her advantage to a one-length score.

La Dragontea, owned by Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Rebecca Hillen, captured her North American debut with a wire-to-wire score in a Belmont allowance at 1 ¼ miles before finishing fourth in the Grade 3 Robert Dick Memorial at Delaware Park in Wilmington, Del. Prior to the Canadian, she defeated optional claiming company over a yielding Mellon turf at Saratoga.

“She's a nice filly,” Clement said. “She was a bit unlucky when I ran her in the stakes at Delaware as the turf was very soft that day. She won yesterday nicely. It gives you an idea of the level of racing at Belmont when you think she was in her conditions. She is an improving kind of a filly.”

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After breaking slow, jockey Jamie Spencer settled Yibir into last of eight early, with Tango Tango Tango and Slicked Back running one-two into the first turn of the 12-furlong Jockey Club Derby. Bolshoi Ballet, winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Derby in July, was third, Ryan Moore putting his colt in an ideal stalking position. With early fractions of :25.37 for the first quarter, :49.45 for the half-mile, and 1:14.46 for the six furlongs, Tango Tango Tango maintained his lead through the first mile, but Slicked Back took over after 1 1/4 miles.

Around the final turn, Spencer took Yibir wide, seeking a running lane, and then went wider still in the stretch as the field bunched up in the closing furlongs. Six wide, down the middle of the turf course, Yibir finally found a running lane and took the lead, winning the Jockey Club Derby by 2 1/2 lengths. Soldier Rising rallied from midpack to finish second with Slicked Back holding on for third.

The final time for the 1 1/2 miles was 2:26.23. Find this race's chart here.

Yibir paid $7.30, $3.50, and $3.40. Soldier Rising paid $3.00 and $2.80. Slicked Back paid $6.40.

The Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes is a Win and You're In Event for the Breeders' Cup Turf. Winners received a fees-paid, guaranteed spot in the corresponding race at the Breeders' Cup World Championships, scheduled for Nov. 6 at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif.

Bred in England by owner Godolphin, Yibir is a 3-year-old gelding by Dubawi out of the Monsun mare Rumh. He is trained by Charles Appleby. Yibir has three wins in seven starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of five wins in 11 starts and $815,580 in career earnings.

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