By Joe Bianca
For all he's accomplished in racing, Christophe Clement will have a chance at a career first later this year in Saratoga, and it won't be on the racetrack. Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat), announced Wednesday as a finalist for the 2017 class of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, would be Clement's first pupil ever to be enshrined.
The bay Castleton Lyons colorbearer won 11 graded stakes from ages two to six, including seven Grade I triumphs spanning distances between one mile and 1 3/8 miles, en route to racking up $6,169,800 in lifetime earnings. He won both the Male Turf Horse and Older Male Horse championships at the 2009 Eclipse Awards and repeated in the male turf category the following year.
“Great news,” Clement said about Gio Ponti's recognition. “I wasn't expecting it so quickly and I don't know if he'll get in this year or not, but I always said he was plenty good enough. Top class horse, five years at the Grade I level. I'm very proud to be involved with him.”
Gio Ponti reeled off four straight Grade I victories in 2009, culminating with perhaps his signature win in the GI Arlington Million. But Clement says one of his favorite memories is of a race his trainee lost that year.
“In the 2009 Breeders' Cup [Classic] when we were second to Zenyatta,” Clement recalled. “Everyone was rooting for her and Mike Smith, but he made a big move on the inside and ran a superb race. He had a spectacular turn of foot.”
Gio Ponti is likely his best yet, but Clement is never without a stable full of good turf horses, and this year they're led by GISW mare Celestine (Scat Daddy). The 5-year-old, who dominated the GI Longines Just A Game S. last June, was later bought from Phaedrus Flights LLC by Clement client Moyglare Stud Farm for $2.55 million at the Keeneland November sale and transferred from Bill Mott's barn. Celestine captured the Sand Springs S. last Saturday at Gulfstream in her seasonal debut.
“I was excited by her race,” Clement offered. “The main thing is it's great to do well for a longtime client in Moyglare Farm. They've been very loyal to me. Their idea was to buy her for one year and bring her back as a broodmare in Ireland. It's nice when you do well for longstanding owners. We'll likely go in the Grade II [Honey Fox S.] on Florida Derby day and then point to the Just A Game again.”
Clement relayed that his MGSW turf sprinter Pure Sensation (Zensational), who had to be scratched out of the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint because of lameness in his left front Dec. 10, is on track to make his 6-year-old bow this spring.
“He came back and after two weeks in the States he was perfectly sound,” Clement said. “It was very annoying, but you just have to give these things some time. He's on his way back now and is about 10 days to two weeks away from breezing. He should be ready to race by the end of April.”
The 51-year-old Paris native also revealed that his SW/MGSP Governor Malibu (Malibu Moon) is “pretty close” to making his first start as a 4-year-old, saying the chestnut colt would be ready to run by Apr. 1 and would be pointed to a spot in New York.
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