RACING lost one of its rare and really good guys last weekend in US-based, but definitely still French, Christophe Clement.

Aged just 59, he succumbed to a rare form of eye cancer.

He trained over 2,500 winners, including 41 at Grade 1 level. His best horses included Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist, dual Eclipse Award winner Gio Ponti, and Breeders’ Cup winner Pizza Bianca.

Christophe was universally popular across both US and international racecourses and sales complexes, from the front side to the back sides, switching languages as required.

Everyone knew Christophe and, with rarely a bad word for anyone, he was the first to step in to help someone new or even just struggling.

The list of Christophe Clement training ‘graduates’ number as many well-known horse people as horses.

Whether from the US or Europe, whether for weeks or years, people came to learn about training racehorses and often just life, the added extras included wildbirds, alligators, fish, trees, plants, food and wine with Provence Rosé at the top of the list!

He was the most social and hospitable of people; to join the Clement Stable was to be absorbed into his beloved family of Valerie, Miguel, Acacia, Charlotte, Sean and now Hugo.

Other than family, Christophe’s “happy place” was with his horses and afternoons at Payson Park exemplified that.

He liked to know his horses and his training was both methodical and intuitive, attention to detail paramount, and his wonderful barn staff and riders share this vision and the resulting success.

Moyglare Stud first sent him horses almost 30 years ago, and a recent stakes win in New York illustrates the length and depth of that relationship.

On her US debut, Bellezza won the Grade 3 Sheepshead Bay Stakes at Aqueduct following on from a similar win 25 years ago when another Irish export, Lisieux Rose, won the same race at Belmont in 2000.

Moyglare Stud only ever had small numbers in the US, a combination of Irish-bred exports or racing filly purchases.

The Irish-breds included Grade 1 winner Relaxed Gesture, and the purchases included Grade 1 performer Discreet Mark and, more recently, US-bred fillies such as Love Appeals and Lia Marina.

In all cases, over all these years, all horses finished their careers, sound and healthy, and that is as much a tribute to Christophe and his meticulous care as any other words.

Miguel Clement now takes over his mantle. Miguel is so like his father in so many ways and, assisted by his trusted and expert staff, Moyglare Stud will continue this relationship for hopefully another 25 years, all of us doing our best to keep the dream alive.

I am very proud to call Christophe a friend and I am a better person for knowing him.

I learnt something every single day I spent with him and I will miss him and those days so so much, but my thoughts are with his adored and special family and his racetrack family.

Thank you CC for so much.