'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel) toyed with three rivals Saturday and made easy work over a course labeled as yielding in the GII Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga.
One of the last runners saddled by the late Christophe Clement, the LSU Stables-owned 5-year-old, now in the more-than-capable hands of son Miguel, won his first two starts to kick off 2025 going 1 1/2 miles in the GIII Pan American at Gulfstream before shipping north to take the 1 3/8-mile GII Man O' War Stakes May 10 at Aqueduct. In his first start for the younger Clement, Far Bridge cut back to the 1 1/8-mile GI Manhattan Stakes and just missed a neck behind fellow 'Rising Star' Deterministic (Liam's Map) and Integration (Quality Road) in a distance perhaps slightly shorter than his preferred.
Stretched back out to the 1 3/8-mile distance Saturday facing a field decimated scratches due to morning rain, Far Bridge broke widest of the quartet and was happy to settle second as the group worked themselves into a single file line into the first of three turns. As expected, one of two Todd Pletcher runners Tucson (Constitution) hustled to the front under Luis Saez while El Rezeen (English Channel) and Saffie Joseph, Jr. runner Harrow (Lea) were comfortable doing their running late. Saez hit the gas on Tucson, opening up a several length advantage past the wire for the first time while Far Bridge never looked in trouble with regular pilot Joel Rosario aboard. The field stayed single file along the rail around the clubhouse turn and into the backstretch through six furlongs in 1:14.83 before Far Bridge could wait no more and began reeling Tucson back in, closing the margin in the length of a few strides before drawing alongside at the midway point up the backstretch. As the pacesetter threw in the towel, the 1-2 favorite assumed command and had a clear lead as the closers swarmed in on a fading Tucson. El Rezeen made a gallant late run but was never a danger to the winner as Far Bridge cruised home well in hand to win while Harrow beat out Tucson for the show spot.
“Strategy went out the window [after all the scratches],” Clement admitted. “Joel [Rosario] knows the horse very well. He's won five of his last seven starts – just keep it simple. I told him, 'you know him inside out. You're the best, Joel; he's the best. You two will figure it out.' I walked it [the turf] this morning around 11:30 and I thought it was actually good to be honest with you. I thought the turf course was in very good condition – very even, very safe. I had zero reservations about the going.”
Clement added that Far Bridge would likely be set to defend his title in the GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes Aug. 9, saying, “100 percent. We will be there.”
Randy Sarf of LSU Stables added: “He ran like he's been training, he ran like who he is. He's a beautiful horse, and he fights. He tries every day. He gallops, he jogs and he breezes [like] just a really good horse. I'm blessed to have a horse like that and to be part of this game and have something like this. The Clement family is a big part of Far Bridge–my parents, my kids, and everything. This was nice. It's nice to win in Saratoga and [we're] looking forward to the Sword Dancer.”
Pedigree Note:
One of 74 stakes winners for the late, great English Channel, Far Bridge is the third and final foal out of the Kitten's Joy mare Fitpitcher who also sadly passed in 2021. As an earner of over $2.3m in his career, he is far and away the most accomplished of his siblings though his 6-year-old half-sister Bali Belle (Bal a Bali {Brz}) did manage three wins and six-figure earnings herself. Third dam Pleasant Temper, a multiple graded stakes-winning daughter of Storm Cat, also produced the dam of GII Rebel Stakes winner Long Range Toddy (Take Charge Indy).
Saturday, Saratoga
BOWLING GREEN S.-GII, $186,000, Saratoga, 7-12, 4yo/up,
1 3/8mT, 2:15.38, yl.
1–FAR BRIDGE, 124, h, 5, by English Channel
1st Dam: Fitpitcher, by Kitten's Joy
2nd Dam: Teenage Temper, by A.P. Indy
3rd Dam: Pleasant Temper, by Storm Cat
'TDN Rising Star'. O-LSU Stables; B-Calumet Farm (KY);
T-Miguel Clement; J-Joel Rosario. $110,000. Lifetime Record:
MGISW, 18-9-3-3, $2,372,980. Werk Nick Rating: A+++.
*Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–El Rezeen, 120, c, 4, English Channel–Karama, by Kitten's Joy.
O/B-Shadwell Farm, LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $40,000.
3–Harrow, 122, g, 7, Lea–Camille Garey, by Street Cry (Ire).
1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($9,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP).
O-Averill Racing LLC; B-Lantern Hill Farm LLC (KY); T-Saffie A.
Joseph, Jr. $24,000.
Margins: 3, 3 1/4, NK. Odds: 0.55, 3.40, 4.50.
Also Ran: Tucson. Scratched: Corruption, Game Warden, Kuchar, Starting Over, Tawny Port, Webslinger, Yo Daddy. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Another graded stakes win for FAR BRIDGE! He dominates the Grade 2 Bowling Green Stakes under @JRosarioJockey for trainer @clementstable. pic.twitter.com/Y80WEh68D7
— NYRA (🎪) (@TheNYRA) July 12, 2025
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