Clement sends out formidable pair of Deterministic, Ridari in G3 Fort Marcy

Trainer Miguel Clement holds a strong hand in Saturday’s Grade 3, $175,000 Fort Marcy, and will send out the pair of dual Grade 1-winner Deterministic and dual group-winner Ridari in the nine-furlong inner turf test for older horses at Belmont at the Big A.

“The stable will be well-represented in there for sure,” Clement said.

Deterministic makes his anticipated 5-year-old debut under returning rider Kendrick Carmouche after scratching from the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile on April 10 at Keeneland. The son of Liam’s Map seeks a title defense in this event after wiring last year’s edition for a solid 4 1/2-length score in his last start for the late Christophe Clement, whose election to racing’s Hall of Fame was announced earlier this week.

“He won the race last year, and we’ll try to keep the same winning ingredient as what we did last summer,” Clement said.

Deterministic posted career-best performances in his last two starts, landing a determined pacesetting victory in the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan in June at Saratoga Race Course and following with a stalk-and-pounce score in the Grade 1 Fourstardave when cut back to one mile on August 2. The efforts, which both came under Carmouche, garnered lifetime-best Beyer Speed Figures of 100 and 101, respectively.

The dark bay has not raced since the Fourstardave, but has recorded a series of works over the dirt at the Payson Park Training Center dating to early February, most recently covering five furlongs in 1:03.40 on Friday.

A winner in four of his last five outings, including additional Grade 3 wins in the local Jockey Club Derby Invitational and Hill Prince, Deterministic holds a 13-7-3-1 record with $1,988,515 in earnings, and boasts a graded victory on dirt after taking the Grade 3 Gotham as a sophomore. He is campaigned by St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Steven Duncker and Vicarage Stable.

Carmouche rides from post 5.

Amo Racing USA and Resolute Racing’s Ridari [post 1, Jaime Rodgiruez] enters from a seven-month respite and makes his stateside debut after eight starts in his native France.

The Churchill 4-year-old made his first seven outings for trainer Mikel Delzangles, and was privately purchased by co-trainer Nicolas Clement – brother to Christophe – in October at the Arqana Saint-Cloud Sale ahead of a last-out win the Group 2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein by a nose in October at Longchamp.

Ridari’s sophomore campaign also included a nose win in the Group 3 Prix de Fontainebleau in April at Longchamp and close Group 1 finishes in the French 2000 Guineas in May at Longchamp and Prix du Jockey Club in June at Chantilly ahead of a third in the Group 3 Prix Messidor.

Bred by Aga Khan Stud, Ridari is out of the Motivator mare Ridasiyna, who won the Group 1 Prix de l’Opera in 2012.

Godolphin’s Kentucky homebred Montador [post 3, Jose Lezcano] looks to break through at the graded level after a strong sophomore campaign that featured three wins from six starts.

Trained by Michael Stidham, the 4-year-old Nyquist bay debuted with a second in August 2024 at Colonial Downs, and did not return until 11 months later when he crossed the wire first in a 5 1/2-furlong Colonial maiden, but was disqualified and placed seventh. He dominated next out to graduate by 3 1/4 lengths when stretched out to one mile in August at Kentucky Downs.

Montador has since made each of his starts at 1 1/16 or 1 1/8 miles, beginning with a head second in a first-level Keeneland allowance en route to a win at the same condition in November at Churchill Downs. He completed the year with a close fifth in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf at Churchill and his first stakes win in the Listed Woodchopper in December at Fair Grounds Race Course, where he has made his last three outings.

“He was one that gave us the indication [early on] that two turns was going to probably be his best distance,” Stidham said.

The talented bay made his seasonal bow with a strong second to Lagynos in the Grade 3 Fair Grounds on February 14, where he earned a lifetime-best 96 Beyer. Stidham said he was encouraged by the effort and expected a good showing from the colt next up in the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial Classic on March 21, but a troubled beginning and wide run led to an even fifth-place finish there.

“We were very happy with the first start back and we were hoping and planning on a big effort in his next start,” Stidham said. “He got off bad, and then he lost position. He had too much to do to really make any impact, and the start really cost him any chance in that race.”

Montador has posted two works over the Keeneland dirt since his last start, including a half-mile in 48 seconds flat on April 22 in his most recent move.

“He’s been training very well at Keeneland,” Stidham said. “He’s a bigger, stronger, more mature horse this year. We’ve always liked him from the beginning and he’s pretty much showed up in every start.”

Montador is out of the Medaglia d’Oro mare Lady Montdore, who won the 2018 Grade 2 Glens Falls on the turf at Saratoga ahead of a third in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl at Belmont Park. His second dam is multiple graded stakes-winner Hystericalady.

West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford Racing’s graded stakes-winner Battle of Normandy [post 2, Dylan Davis] enters from a runner-up finish to Tiz Dashing in the Grade 3 Canadian Turf on February 28 at Gulfstream for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.

The 6-year-old City of Light bay looks to add a second graded win to his resume after taking the 2024 Grade 3 River City at Churchill Downs, which capped a four-race win streak that encompassed two allowance-level wins over the Big A turf. He holds a 16-5-4-2 record with $679,395 in total purse earnings.

Completing the field is Klaravich Stables’ Uncatalyzed [post 4, Ricardo Santana, Jr.], who makes his stakes debut for five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown on the heels of a one-mile allowance score on March 22 at Tampa Bay Downs off a nearly 11-month layoff.

Out of the Shamardal mare Queen’s Code, Uncatalyzed is a half-brother to Group 3-winner and Group 1-placed Umm Kulthum, while his third dam, Desert Frolic, is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1-winner Storming Home.

Dr. Kraft, Mr. Papagiorgio and Yo Daddy are entered for the main track only.

The Fort Marcy is slated as Race 4 on Saturday’s 11-race program, which co-features the Listed $150,000 Elusive Quality in Race 8. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern with the facility open to the public from 10 a.m. - 8:45 p.m. to accommodate an 11 a.m. first post at Churchill Downs for their 14-race card that features the Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby in Race 12 at 6:57 p.m.    

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