It's unlikely that an American horse trainer will list running in the Melbourne Cup (G1) on his annual to-do list.
But if you will be searching for trainer Miguel Clement Nov. 3, you may have to look Down Under.
In winning the 2-mile $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup Stakes (G2T) June 4 at Saratoga Race Course, not only did Peachtree Stable's Tawny Port put his amazing stamina on display, he also earned his connections a free entry to the world-famous Melbourne Cup.
And from the sound of it, Clement and his wife, television analyst Acacia Courtney Clement, have their passports ready for some international travel.
"I am seriously considering it," the trainer said. "I know the timing is not great with the Breeders' Cup around the corner, but you only live once."
While the competition will be formidable in Australia, the 2-mile distance of the Melbourne Cup should be in Tawny Port's sweet spot.
The 7-year-old Pioneerof the Nile horse is definitely a throwback to a different era as he has proven to be durable and unfazed by marathon distances.
A winner of six of 32 starts for earnings of $2,324,593, the runner bred by WinStar Farm has now won turf stakes at 2 miles and finished second at 2 1/16 miles in last year's $700,000 Bowling Green Gold Cup Invitational Stakes at Kentucky Downs.
"If you watch his race at Kentucky Downs, he ran 2 miles and a sixteenth uphill and he was the only one finishing the race and he really finished," Clement said about the 7-year-old who was seventh in the 2022 Kentucky Derby (G1). "He's a pure athlete. He's tough as nails."
The script was pretty much the same Thursday at the Spa.
While 80-1 longshot Worthington carved out a fast half-mile of :48.30, with favored Corruption taking over through a mile in 1:38.20, jockey Flavien Prat kept Tawny Port reserved in sixth in the field of eight. Turning for home the final time, Mrs. Fitriani Hay's Navy Seal took over the lead, but the Dubawi gelding could not fend off Tawny Port ($6.90), who surged past him from the rail approaching the eighth pole and scored by 2 1/2 lengths.
The final time was 3:17.75, which set a course record.
"Last year, he had some very close calls and ran some great races. He deserves to win a great race like this because he's very honest, very game and consistent," Clement said.
Navy Seal, trained by Wesley Ward, was second by 6 1/2 lengths over Damchu Stables' Miztertonic, a Mission Impazible gelding trained by Keri Brion.
Whether or not the trip to Australia materializes, the Aug. 15 Christophe Clement Turf Stakes (G1T) at the Spa is definitely on the calendar.
"The Christophe Clement is next for him for many reasons," Clement said about the race, formerly the Sword Dancer Stakes, that has been renamed for his late father.
Out of the stakes-winning, graded-placed Macho Uno mare Livi Makenzie, Tawny Port was bought by John Fort of Peachtree Stable for $430,000 from the Machmer Hall Sales consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.
