Boisterous gives trainer second straight Man o'War

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Elmont, NY (Sports Network) - Boisterous ably filled in for stablemate Point of Entry as the Shug McGaughey-trained horse captured Saturday's 55th running of the $600,000 Man o'War Stakes at Belmont Park. The 6-year-old gave his trainer his second consecutive win in the 1 3/8-mile turf race.

With Point of Entry, winner of last year's Man o'War, sidelined after surgery in June, McGaughey went with Boisterous in the turf event. Owned by Phipps Stable, Boisterous settled off the pace in the eight-horse field.

Ridden by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, Boisterous gained ground around the final turn and moved into the lead at the top of the stretch. The 6-year- old pulled away from Twilight Eclipse to register a 2 1/4-length victory as the 3-2 favorite.

Finishing third was Finnegans Wake followed by Optimizer, Al Khali, Speaking of Which and Folk Singer.

The time for the Man o'War was 2:14.11 over a turf course listed as 'good.'

"I'm going to smile on this one, because this horse deserves to win a Grade 1," said McGaughey. "He had been training so good. His three races this year have all been really good. We kind of caught a turf today we liked. I was looking for a little bit of rain. I'm tickled to death, not for me, but for the horse."

Boisterous scored his second straight win after claiming last month's Monmouth Stakes. The Man o'War victory was worth $360,000 making the horse a millionaire. He has earned $1,297,910 with 11 wins in 25 career starts.

Boisterous has won his last three starts in New York. Last year, he captured the Knickerbocker at Belmont Park and followed with the Red Smith at Aqueduct. Overall at Belmont, he has six wins in nine starts with two thirds.

"We'll think about the Sword Dancer (Aug. 17, Saratoga Race Course). We'll think about the Arlington Million (Aug. 17, Arlington Park). We'll think about the Pacific Classic (Aug. 25, Del Mar)," said McGaughey. "When we get up (to Saratoga Race Course) we'll see how he's doing. The Arlington Million I'm a little bit gun shy on because I don't really understand why he ran bad there last year. Somebody said, 'He didn't run all that bad. He was ninth, beaten (5 3/4 lengths),' but he ran bad."

Boisterous returned $5.10, $3.10 and $2.50. Twilight Eclipse paid $6.70 and $4.80, and Exclusive Strike paid $6.10 to show.