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The Christophe Clement stable was among the top barns in New York for over 30 years. Everything changed when Clement died of a rare form of cancer May 25. It was a tough time for his son, Miguel, who took over as the head trainer for the stable. But he has done a remarkable job as the Clement stable has not missed a beat. As of Aug. 6, Miguel Clement's record is 26-for-115 and he has won eight stakes races, four of them graded, two of them Grade I's.

To talk about his success, his plans for the future and much more, Clement was this week's Gainesway Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland.

The star of the stable has been Deterministic (Liam's Map), who has won the GI Manhattan Stakes and the GI Fourstardave Stakes. The Manhattan win came just 14 days after his father passed away.

“Winning the Manhattan was overwhelming, to say the least,” Clement said. “I started the week as a winless trainer and ended the week as a Grade I-winning trainer. There was a lot going on that week. Winning that race was great, very rewarding. It was very meaningful for many, many, many reasons, and it was a big welcome distraction for both the stable and my family. I was very grateful for that.”

Was there a lot of pressure on him to start winning right away?

“The pressure was unbearable sometimes, but it's okay,” he said.  “You just have to deliver and winning takes care of a lot of things. Unfortunately, especially in our industry, you could be doing a great job and your horses could be running well and you've been placing your horses in the right spots and doing a great job looking after them. But in this industry, we're very much judged by the final result, so there is an added emphasis on winning.”

Christophe Clement's specialty was the turf. For the most part, the barn is still grass oriented, but Clement said he would like to get more dirt horses.

“I would love to have more dirt horses in the barn,” he said. “So, if anyone's watching and they have good dirt horses, we will always have a stall for them. Truthfully, it's a bit tough to say that. The truth is, when my dad first came over from Europe, the overwhelming majority of the stable was from European ownership and a clientele. So in that regard, you can understand how he started off with mostly grass horses.”

In our “Fastest Horse of the Week,” segment which is sponsored by WinStar, the team went over the many reasons there are breed to Win Star stallion Life Is Good. The fastest horse of the week was Seismic Beauty (Uncle Mo), who got a 110 Beyer in her win in the GI Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar.

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by 1/st Racing, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders' Association, West Point Thoroughbreds, the KTOB and XBTV.com, the team of Zoe Cadman, Bill Finley and Randy Moss reviewed the Whitney Stakes and the other Grade I races on the Saturday card at Saratoga.

The controversial disqualification of Zulu Kingdom (Ire) (Ten Sovereigns {Ire}) in the GII Hall of Fame Stakes was a topic of discussion, and the trio previewed the big card Saturday at Colonial Downs, which is topped by the GI Arlington Million Stakes.

To watch the Writers' Room, click here. To view the show as a podcast, click here.

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The post Miguel Clement Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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