2026 Christophe Clement Turf Stakes Preview at Saratoga Race Course

Key Takeaways:

• Though the name may be new (formerly, it was the Sword Dancer), the Christophe Clement is one of the summer’s premier long-distance turf races, with a $750,000 purse and an automatic Breeders’ Cup Turf berth drawing a diverse field of domestic and European contenders.
• Distance and pace should be especially important at 1 ½ miles, with Ole Crazy Bone and Survie standing out as the only runners in the field already proven winners at the trip.
• Ole Crazy Bone has the ideal combination of recent form, proven stamina, and tactical speed, and his ability to control or stalk the pace makes him a particularly dangerous contender in a race without much confirmed speed.
• Survie brings a strong course-and-distance win into the race and has already shown she can handle both male competition and quick turnarounds, giving her a legitimate chance to keep rolling despite facing the boys.
• Ancient Egypt brings the strongest recent European form into the race after narrowly missing in the Grand Prix de Paris, and his forward running style and proven 1 ½-mile form make him an intriguing stateside debutant.

The $750,000 Christophe Clement Turf Stakes is the most important long-distance turf race of the Saratoga Race Course meet, and it is coming up Saturday, August 15. The race drew a field of seven horses from America and abroad to compete not only for a rich purse but also for an automatic bid in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Though the name may be new, the 1 ½-mile grass race has a long history at the Spa. The race was originally named after Sword Dancer, the 1959 Horse of the Year. It was a six-furlong dirt sprint in 1975 and 1976, but was stretched out to 1 1/16 miles and moved to the grass in 1977 and then stretched out to its current 1 ½-mile distance starting in 1980. He was perhaps an ironic namesake for a top turf race: he ran three times on the turf in his career, with his best finish being a second behind T. V. Lark in the 1960 United Nations. But, he won 15 races on dirt, including the 1959 Belmont Stakes.

The race was renamed for the 2026 edition in honor of the late trainer Christophe Clement, who passed away in 2025. Clement won the race five times in his career, most recently in 2024 with Far Bridge. His stable remains in the family: Christophe’s son Miguel now runs the barn, and will saddle Tawny Port this year.

The last horse to win this race and the Breeders’ Cup Turf in the same year was Graham Motion trainee Main Sequence, who swept the pair in 2015. He was the first to do so since Better Talk Now—who did so exactly 20 years before, and was also trained by Motion. The other two horses who have won both in the same year were Fraise (1992) and Theatrical (1987).

Christophe Clement Turf Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, August 15
• Track: Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York
• Post Time: 5:06 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 ½ miles on the inner turf
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds and up
• Where to Watch: FanDuel Racing and Fox
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

2026 Christophe Clement Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the field for the 2026 Christophe Clement Stakes, including trainers, jockeys, post positions, and morning-line odds.

Christophe Clement Stakes Prep Race Results

The Bowling Green (G2) on July 11 is the local prep for the Christophe Clement, and three of the seven horses in the field are coming out of that race. They were the top three finishers in that prep, separated by just half a length. Pacesetter Ole Crazy Bone held by a nose over Fort George, who was bearing down from his stalking spot. Minaret Station rallied strongly late to finish third, only half a length beaten.

Three other runners come out of graded-stakes wins. Tawny Port won the two-mile Belmont Gold Cup (G2) on Belmont Stakes weekend and turns back for this. Program Trading dealt with wet conditions to win the United Nations (G2) in blowout fashion at Monmouth Park on July 18. Survie, who beat fillies and mares in the Glens Falls (G2) at 1 ½ miles at the Spa on August 2, wheels back in two weeks to take on the boys.

The only horse coming out of a top-level race is also the only horse who last raced overseas. Ancient Egypt was last seen finishing second in the Grand Prix de Paris (G1) at Longchamp, beaten by only a head, and will face older for the first time in this spot.

Christophe Clement Stakes Contenders

In order of post position, here are profiles of the seven contenders in the 2026 Christophe Clement:

1. Ancient Egypt: He has held his own against high-class horses in Europe this year and now makes his first start stateside. There will be some challenges here: he is a sophomore facing older foes for the first time, and he will also have to prove that his speed will hold up in the United States, as overseas speed doesn’t always do so. However, it helps that there isn’t a lot of front-end gas in this race: Ole Crazy Bone is the closest this race has to speed, but even he is not so much a real American speedball but rather a horse who doesn’t need the lead, but who has enough pace to default to the front end in a long race with no horse actually trying to gun it. Especially since he can win from a pressing spot, he still has a chance to get a good trip in this.
2. Tawny Port: After years of coming close, Tawny Port finally got that long-awaited sixth career win last out in the Belmont Gold Cup (G2), a race in which he was the only horse who wanted any part of two miles on the lawn. No, however, he cuts back to 1 ½ miles – a trip where he has been able to graze at underneath shares, but where he doesn’t actually have a comparative advantage over real 1 ½-mile horses. Joe Hirsch would love to see Tawny Port win – being trained by Miguel Clement, he’s the best story, after all – but from a betting perspective, wait to see him take a shot at something longer like the Melbourne Cup (G1).
3. Ole Crazy Bone: He led at every call and dug in to win the Bowling Green over this course last out. The extra furlong will be easy, as he’s already a Grade 2 winner at Kentucky Downs over the trip, and he doesn’t even need to make the lead if a horse like Ancient Egypt or even Fort George decides to go great-guns to the lead. Class is the question – he has yet to face Grade 1 company at all, much less a field with the ceiling that some of these have, but he is in sharp form, should get a good pace setup, and has so far looked like one of those classic “claim them and turn them into a top-notch 1 ½-mile turf horse” types that Mike Maker has built so much of his career on.
4. Program Trading: Flavien Prat rode over half the field last out. He rode Survie, Ole Crazy Bone, and Tawny Port to last-out graded-stakes wins, but there’s only one horse in the field he has been riding for years – that’s Program Trading, and he stays aboard. Program Trading’s best asset is his class, as he’s a proven Grade 1 winner, and wins in his last two starts suggest he’s finally coming back around to himself after a long layoff and a lot of close-but-no-cigar efforts. The new channel is 1 ½ miles – Program Trading has yet to race past 1 ⅜ miles, though he did look like he was doing it last out. He’ll need to take a step up from those efforts to face a group of this quality, and that means he may not be quite the right price. But he’s hard to completely count out, especially since he is trying something new and he should relish the firmer conditions.
5. Fort George: It’s a familiar trajectory: a handicap-level horse in Great Britain holds his own in graded-stakes races at the Dubai Carnival, and fits at the level in the United States, too. He did everything but win the Bowling Green, prompting the pace and just missing behind Ole Crazy Bone – though it was Ole Crazy Bone doing the dirty work on the front end. It’s hard to fault the 9th-place run in the Dubai Turf two back: that was only a 1 ⅛-mile race, and he’s not running against any Ombudsman types in this spot. In his start before that, he made a much better account, going 1 ½ miles, where he was second behind only two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Rebel’s Romance. If Fort George improves in his second start off the layoff, he should be a threat, and it’s a vote of confidence that jockey Kieran Shoemark hops on the plane again to ride.
6. Minaret Station: Lightly-raced Minaret Station will face Grade 1 company for the first time in this spot. He has come close against good horses this year – within a length of Lagynos in a pair of starts at Churchill Downs, and then beaten less than half a length by Ole Crazy Bone and Fort George in the local prep last out. However, he has to prove he can step forward to 1 ½ miles, and may have to show a kind of tactical speed that he hasn’t shone much of since he was three, before a ten-month layoff. Demand a price – but with Jose Ortiz riding for strong turf trainer Will Walden, he isn’t without upside.
7. Survie: The only mare facing a field of males in this spot, Survie came across the Atlantic to beat fillies and mares in the Glens Falls last out, stayed in New York, and wheels right back for this. It won’t be her first time racing twice in quick succession – she has come back within about two weeks twice before, and though she hasn’t won when wheeled back that quickly, both times she ran credible efforts against top-class company, meaning she is probably just the kind of horse who thrives on running. She has won twice at 1 ½ miles before – making her the only horse other than Ole Crazy Bone with a win at the distance – and especially if some pace does materialize, she is in form to pick them off.

Christophe Clement Turf Stakes: 3 Best Bets

These are the three best bets in the 2026 San Diego Handicap:

1. Ole Crazy Bone (4-1)

One of only two horses in the field who has won at 1 ½ miles, Ole Crazy Bone has turned over a new leaf since being claimed to the Mike Maker barn for $100,000 last summer. That’s basically what Mike Maker does – scout out high-priced horses who are in for a tag who have potential going very long, and stretch them out. He won the 1 ½-mile Kentucky Turf Cup (G2) second off the claim, and also won the 1 ⅜-mile Bowling Green (G2) last out.

The margin wasn’t flashy in the Bowling Green, of course – just a nose, with Fort George and Minaret Station bearing down. But, he and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. can probably have the lead again if they want it, as the only two others in this field who have much in the way of pace are Europeans. And, even if they don’t make the top straight away? Ole Crazy Bone has done a lot of winning from just off the pace as well, giving Ortiz options. He is in form, he can run all day, and he should be a fair price with so many eyes likely to be on the overseas horses.

2. Survie (6-1)

The only mare facing the boys here, Survie wheels right back off a no-doubt-about-it score over course and distance in the Glens Falls (G2) two weeks ago. It’s a quick return, but it’s nothing she hasn’t done before. In fact, facing the boys is also old hat for her – she has run five times against males, with two wins and a Group 1 placing to show for it. She’s the best of both worlds, really – a horse with plenty of experience against serious European runners, but also a good-looking victory over course and distance at the Spa.

She loses jockey Flavien Prat from her last-out win, but that’s not a real worry given that Prat has been riding his mount in this race, Program Trading, for years. She gets a more-than-capable replacement in Manny Franco, who has been red-hot this summer at Saratoga. The outside post in a fairly short field should afford Survie and Franco a clean break and plenty of options about where to place her through most of the race, and she should find plenty of late run to get in the frame down the lane.

3. Ancient Egypt (5-1)

Sometimes overseas class just holds in these top-level American turf races, especially if connections are serious about getting a Breeders’ Cup bid. Ancient Egypt is a little bit of a strange case compared to most of those kinds of shippers – usually a three-year-old would be heading to the Saratoga Derby (G1) or similar, but this one is skipping straight from some major three-year-old spots to a date against older horses.

Still, a good three-year-old from Europe will usually hold their own against older competition, especially in the United States. And, with firmer ground likely for Saturday, the footing should be just to Ancient Egypt’s liking. He comes off three straight races at 1 ½ miles, including a pair of close runner-up efforts, and in terms of pace, Ancient Egypt should have no trouble getting a forward trip – he probably won’t make the lead over Ole Crazy Bone, but he won’t be too far away, and he has already shown he can run a winning effort from just off the pace. Especially with his jockey David Egan seeing fit to fly overseas, signs are good.

Christophe Clement Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Christophe Clement Stakes?

A: The Christophe Clement Stakes happens Saturday, August 15 at 5:06 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It is the 9th of 12 races on the card.

Q: Where is the Christophe Clement Stakes?

A: The Christophe Clement Stakes happens at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Christophe Clement Stakes?

A: Now the race’s namesake, Christophe Clement leads with five wins when the race was still called the Sword Dancer. His winners include Honor Glide (1999), Winchester (2011), Gufo (2021, 2022), and Far Bridge (2024). Among the trainers entered in the 2026 edition of the race, Chad Brown leads with three wins, most recently with Annals of Time in 2019. He can make it four with Program Trading this year.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Christophe Clement Stakes?

A: Minaret Station was named the 3-1 morning-line favorite. The lightly-race four-year-old is in good form for trainer Will Walden, and just missed by half a length in the Bowling Green (G2), the local prep for this race. Walden does well enough on the grass to make bettors likely to turn to him, though with action likely to come on United Nations winner Program Trading and first-time stateside starter Ancient Egypt, Minaret Station will not be a starkly defined favorite and may not even be the favorite at all.

Q: Who is the best Christophe Clement Stakes jockey?

A: Pat Day leads all jockeys with four Christophe Clement wins between 1987 and 2002, though he is now retired. Two jockeys in the 2026 field have won once each: Flavien Prat (Program Trading) won in 2025 with El Cordobes and Manuel Franco (Survie) won in 2020 with Channel Maker.

Q: Who won the Christophe Clement Stakes in 2025?

A: El Cordobes won this race in 2025, its last running as the Sword Dancer Stakes, for trainer Charlie Appleby and jockey Flavien Prat. Appleby does not have an entrant in 2026, but Prat will ride Program Trading for Chad Brown.

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