Trainer Miguel Clement gives orders to his exercise riders during training hours at the Oklahoma Training Center adjacent to the Saratoga Race Course Thursday June 4, 2026 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The Belmont Stakes which will be run Saturday June 6th at the Saratoga Race Course. Photo for the Times Union by Skip Dickstein
Skip Dickstein
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Grade 1 Manhattan Stakes — typically run at Belmont Park on Long Island — has long been an exciting race, but it’s also been subject to substantial adversity both recently and throughout its history.
Aside from moving from Belmont to Saratoga for the three years Belmont Park has been under construction, the 2025 edition of the $1 million turf contest for older horses was also postponed a day then shortened in distance thanks to anything-but-ideal wet weather conditions.
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The race was also run on the Inner Turf Course instead of the planned Mellon Turf Course.
It still proved to be a thrilling affair with a clear-cut winner.
Deterministic, who conquered last year’s latest edition of the race, went gate-to-wire 363 days prior to Saturday’s contest in what was the only version of the race to go nine furlongs — while also running on an Inner Turf Course the Kentucky-bred has shown a deep appreciation for.
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And he’s back for more.
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It was easy to see that, had the 2025 version of the race gone its traditional 1 3/16 miles, Deterministic would likely not have been the winner.
Two intensely strong runners — Integration and Far Bridge — were closing in on him in the closing strides, but he was able to hang on.
That doesn’t worry Deterministic’s trainer, Miguel Clement. If anything, it gets him pumped up.
“He’s a terrific horse,” Clement said. “He was probably left a little undercooked for his last race. He won based off pure grit and class. I think he has stepped forward since then, so this is just exciting.”
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Deterministic’s last four races — all won in determined fashion — have been front-running graded stakes victories that date back to when Miguel Clement’s late father, Christophe Clement, was still his primary trainer. The son of Liam’s Map continues to improve.
“He’s doing spectacularly well,” Miguel Clement said. “It is a great race, but he’s doing as good as he could be.”
In the shortened 2025 edition, Integration closed furiously down the center of the track only to be held off by a head while fellow Clement trainee Far Bridge, wedged closely between the pair for third.
It was a thrill worthy of the extra day of waiting, but there remains business that’s unfinished.
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McGaughey and Motion each enter a pair
Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey is sending Integration (12-1) back for a shot at the Manhattan’s traditional distance, seeking revenge and bringing a stablemate with him.
Battle of Normandy comes in looking for his first win in two years despite strong back-to-back efforts in recent Grade 3 races. He’ll break from the No. 9 post with morning-line odds of 20-1 and Dylan Davis aboard.
Graham Motion sends out his own pair that will be primed and ready to go but still have plenty to prove. South African Grade 1 headbanger One Stripe (6-1) and Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational victor Test Score (12-1) are both exiting Grade 1 defeats and neither has yet won at a mile and three-sixteenths.
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Lightly raced favorite is the one to beat
All eyes will be on morning-line favorite Rhetorical, who will open up at 2-1 odds with a resume that shows he likes to run at Saratoga and is in top form coming out of his Kentucky Derby undercard win by more than three lengths.
“I thought his last race was obviously really impressive,” trainer Will Walden said. “He was able to get out there and take a deep breath and relax, which is key for him. Obviously, stretching out was not an issue.
“If the last race was an extra sixteenth longer or an extra quarter-mile, he still would’ve won.”
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He’ll stretch out a bit longer Saturday.
The Manhattan is slated as the day’s 12th race with a post time of 6:11 p.m. The field is rounded out by Wathnan Racing’s French-bred Make Me King (8-1), fellow France-born Bright Picture (3-1), and Barclay Tagg’s longshot runner Tiz Dashing (30-1) in the No. 1 post.