Grade 1, $750,000 Sword Dancer Stakes It is going to be renamed subsequent yr to honor the life and legacy of late coach Christoph Clement, who gained the distinguished grass route 5 occasions in Saratoga.
Beginning subsequent August, the race will probably be often called Christoph Clement Grass.
After a battle with most cancers, Clement dies.
Clement, who recorded the fifth sword dancer victory at Farbridge in final yr’s working, handed away in Could on the age of 59 after a battle with metastatic Ubourg melanoma, a uncommon most cancers of the attention. The Veteran Conditioner has been a revered member of the New York Racing neighborhood for over 30 years. He particularly educated Geoponti, the 2014 Belmont Stakes winner Tonariist and dual-champion turf star who gained a number of Grade 1s.
After Clement’s demise, his son, longtime assistant Miguel Clement took over his coaching duties, sending Farbridge from LSU steady to the sixth place end on his sword dancer title protection. One size victory final yr was the following victory after Christoph Clement’s ultimate Grade 1 victory in his profession.
Clement was survived by his spouse Valerie. He’s answerable for enterprise affairs on the steady home and runs two youngsters, Charlotte and Miguel. Charlotte is married to Sean Collins and collectively they’ve a son, Hugo Christophe Clement Collins. Miguel is married to NYRA TV analyst Acacia Clément and gained his first race on the SPA on June 4th as head coach for Steady within the teaching case.
“On behalf of our total Clement household, we wish to thank Neela for this honor. It’s a race which means quite a bit to Christophe, and we all know that his spirit will proceed to reside via all of us,” Valerie Clement stated. “His love for horses, friendship with fellow trainers and homeowners, and dedication to mentoring others are just some of the issues we miss within the sport each day with out Christophe. We cheer on a number of the most proficient horses annually and sit up for collaborating on this race.
Sword Dancers have been dominated by Race Clement since they started their first candidate in 1993. 9 of Clément’s 13 sword dancer starters had been both gained or hit the board. They had been led owlgained the Again to Again Version in 2021 and 2022. Within the 2022 race, Clement Saddle Soldier rose to 3rd place.
Clement’s different sword dancers wins Honor Glide in 1999, Winchester in 2011 and Far Bridge in 2024. Moreover, he positioned third within the occasion in 1996, second in 2005 and gained the Soldier Rising Rise Readure in 2023.
Initially from Paris, Clément recorded a lifetime report of 13,270 to 2,576 wins, beginning at $184,121,369 in whole pockets income.
Clement conditioned over 200,000 billionaires to win a forty first grade victory, including a Breeders’ Cup victory to his resume when Pizza Bianca captured the 2021 Grade 1 boy Phillies turf at Del Mar.
