Miguel Clement hopes to honor his late father’s birthday with success in the Breeders’ Cup

There will be a huge wave of emotions if trainer Miguel Clement wins a Breeders’ Cup race on November 1.

Saturday would have been 60^e birthday of his late father, Christophe, who built the successful stable that Miguel now runs.

And for a family as close-knit as the Clements, Miguel knows there is no better way to honor his beloved father than to stand in the winner’s circle after a World Championship victory on Saturday.

“It would be very meaningful to have a Breeders’ Cup winner on Dad’s birthday,” said Clement, whose father died May 25 at the age of 59 from a rare form of cancer. “I would love to have a big winner this weekend as it will be hard to celebrate his first birthday without him.”

Clement, a veteran of numerous trips to the Breeders’ Cup as an assistant trainer for his father, arrived in Del Mar with four Breeders’ Cup starters and one mare, Breath Away, who will compete in the $300,000 Goldikova Stakes Presented by Yaamava’ on Saturday.

Two of the Breeders’ Cup competitors are two-year-olds competing on October 31: Intricate Spirit in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and Bottas in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Saturday’s hopefuls include Tawny Port in the $5 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf and Bellezza in the $2 million Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

“It’s exciting. But it’s also very sad not to have my father by my side,” Clement said. “But it’s still exciting. The horses are doing very well and we have a great team. It’s business as usual. To be honest, not much has changed. It’s the same protocol, the same routine.”

The success of the Clement stable has not diminished since Miguel took over this spring. Since sending out his first starter on May 31, Clement has won at a 21% clip, with 53 wins from 257 starts and earnings of $6.5 million. He already has 12 wins to his name, including two in Grade 1, and at the Saratoga Race Course summer meeting he finished fourth in both wins and earnings with 18 victories for $2.3 million in prize money.

The numbers are impressive, but, as Clement will emphasize, failure was not an option.

“If anyone knew my father, they know that drop-offs are not allowed. The standards are high,” Miguel said. “Cancer did not happen overnight, so he had enough time to organize everything well for a follow-up. The family got going and the horses are running well, which provides the necessary distraction for the stable and the family.”

As for Peachtree Stable’s Tawny Port, the 6-year-old son of Pioneerof the Nile enters the 1 ½ mile Turf showdown in good form. Since August 30, he has finished second in a trio of premier turf races: the August 30 Bowling Green Gold Cup Invitational Stakes and the September 6 KTDF Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational Stakes, both at Kentucky Downs, and the October 4 Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine, all at distances of a mile or more.

“He’s funny enough to improve at six, which is beyond most people’s logic. His last three races have undoubtedly been the best of his career. I think he’ll have enough speed to run,” Clement said of the winner of five of 29 starts with earnings of $2.1 million. “It’s a spectacular field. But this horse is on the rise. He was unlucky not to win the Grade 1 in Canada. With one pass over the wire he was in the lead. He ran two monster races at Kentucky Downs a week apart to justify his place in the race. He is a real outsider.”