Photo:
Carlos J. Calo / Eclipse Sportswire
Deterministic collared pacesetting Rhetorical from the outside in the final furlong and held off a fast-closing Test Score by a half-length for a repeat victory Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan, a 1 3/16-mile turf test for nine older horses on the Mellon course at Saratoga.
The win handed trainer Miguel Clement and jockey Kendrick Carmouche a second straight Manhattan and stretched Deterministic’s graded stakes win streak to five. He took the 124th running, the fifth of six Grade 1 events on the Belmont Stakes day program, a year after grinding out a gate-to-wire head call over Integration in the same race.
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Deterministic broke well and settled into second under Carmouche as Rhetorical (5-2), the second choice, sprinted clear under Irad Ortiz Jr. and clicked off splits of 22.99, 47.01, 1:09.83 and 1:32.92 over firm going. Make Me King (8-1) and José Ortiz tracked in third. Favorite Bright Picture (2-1), the André Fabre raider shipping in from France, settled in midpack and never landed a blow.
Five graded stakes wins in a row!
DETERMINISTIC wins the Grade 1 @RWCatskills Manhattan Stakes for the second year in a row under @KendrickCarmou1 for trainer @clementstable. pic.twitter.com/g0T7jBGk57
— NYRA (??) (@TheNYRA) June 6, 2026
Rhetorical still showed the way into the lane, but Deterministic angled out in the final furlong, ranged up under steady handling and seized command inside the eighth pole. He hit the wire in 1:50.50, a course record for the distance that shaved nine-tenths of a second off the 1:51.40 Say the Word posted on Aug. 14, 2020. Deterministic (9-2) returned $11.84, $6.72 and $4.94.
Test Score (15-1) and Manuel Franco closed from fifth to nail One Stripe by a half-length for second and returned $15.76 and $8.72. One Stripe (7-1), the South African-bred under Gavin Lerena, edged a tiring Rhetorical for third and paid $5.68 to show. Rhetorical, the reigning New York-bred horse of the year, faded to fourth after setting every fraction. Integration (10-1), Make Me King, Bright Picture, Tiz Dashing (27-1) and Battle of Normandy (20-1) completed the order.
“What a sensational job by Miguel Clement and his team. And he was 10 times sharper than last race,” Carmouche said. “He was probably a tad short last time and still won, so we knew going into this race we’d be even stronger. I’m just so pleased, just so happy.
“He’s different, I’m telling you. The feeling you get, the whole way, too. He’s chill in the paddock, but once he’s out there, he’s all about business, all about business.”
The 5-year-old son of Liam’s Map, owned by St. Elias Stable, Ken Langone, Steven Duncker and Vicarage Stable, improved to nine wins from 15 starts and pushed his earnings to $2.63 million. Deterministic has not lost since a runner-up finish in April 2025 in a race taken off the turf, reeling off the Fort Marcy (G3), last year’s Manhattan and the Fourstardave (G1) to close his 4-year-old season before opening 2026 with a second Fort Marcy score. That Fort Marcy marked his third start in a row with a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure, according to Daily Racing Form.
“He’s a tremendous racehorse. He’s a pure athlete. We are very privileged to be part of the ride,” Clement said. “He’s top class. I’ve always thought he was the best turf horse in the country. He proved that today. I thought we deserved the Eclipse Award last year, but I’m biased. Hopefully, everyone will understand why I think he’s the leader of the division.
“I think he’ll be a more attractive stallion prospect by keeping him closer, or cutting him back to a mile,” Clement added. “That’s probably the path we’ll do, but we’ll talk to the connections, and I’m sure we’ll come up with the right plan.”
Clement said a repeat bid in the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave on Aug. 8, a “Win and You’re In” for the Breeders’ Cup Mile, remains a possibility.
“Seems like the logical choice to go,” Clement said. “He has an affinity for Saratoga. As we’re based here, we always like to support NYRA. He’s a very special horse.”
Test Score earned black type again for trainer Graham Motion, who watched Franco hustle the colt up from fifth. The winner of the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) in January at Gulfstream Park, Test Score ran eighth in the Turf Classic (G1) last out in May at Churchill Downs. Motion also sent out One Stripe, the 5-year-old formerly based in South Africa, whose résumé includes a pair of Group 1 wins at Kenilworth and runner-up efforts in the Pegasus World Cup Turf and the Maker’s Mark Mile (G1) at Keeneland.
“That’s (a) brutal (beat). They both ran so well,” Motion said. “They were awesome. I don’t know what anyone could have done differently. They went really quick. Manny (Franco, on Test Score) said he lost his spot a little bit going into the first turn but that horse never quits. I just don’t know what happened in Kentucky (last time). I just noticed he was 15-1? That’s extraordinary. I didn’t realize that until after the race. And (One Stripe) ran huge. It’s just tough to make up ground on this track. I think Gavin (Lerena) did a great job. It’s just hard to make up that kind of ground.”