Intricate Spirit will carry a special connection for West Point Thoroughbreds and trainer Miguel Clement in Sunday’s Grade 3 Mahony Stakes at Saratoga.

Christophe Clement selected the son of Complexity as a yearling at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale, launching a journey that has already produced victories in the Grade 3 Futurity and Paradise Creek Stakes. Christophe sadly passed away the following May, and Intricate Spirit is now trained by his son Miguel, who has continued building upon his father’s great foundation.

On August 7, Christophe was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame, and Miguel celebrated the occasion by winning both the Hall of Fame Stakes and Grade 1 Fourstardave.

Intricate Spirit is 6-to-1 on the morning line for the 5 1/2-furlong Mahony and will break from post 4 with Manny Franco aboard. He comes out of a fifth-place finish in the Grade 3 Quick Call over the same course and distance, when a slow start and significant traffic left him with far too much to overcome. He still finished strongly, beaten 3 1/4 lengths.

“That was horrendous racing luck,” Miguel said. “Slow out of the gate. Boxed in, trapped, and sometimes you are just the victim of a trip in turf racing. We just have to try again.”

Miguel believes that performance was considerably better than the result suggests.

“He actually ran a very good race last time,” he said. “If you watched him gallop out, he came from far back and galloped out really strong. It was just that everything that could go wrong, did go wrong that day. Draw a line through it. He’s a better horse than that.

“I’m adamant that you are going to see a good race.”

The Grade 3 Mahony is Sunday’s 9th race at Saratoga, with post time scheduled for 6:06 ET.