Boisterous picked up his second stakes win of 2011 on Oct. 15 at Belmont Park in the $100,000 Knickerbocker S. (G3). The 4-year-old son of Distorted Humor won the $60,000 Three Coins Up S. in May, also at Belmont and was also third in the Grade 1 Man ‘o War in July.
Distorted Humor leads all North American stallions with 17 stakes winners accounting for 19 stakes in 2011.
Boisterous sat off the rail in fifth for the first six furlongs, then swung three wide into the lane to make his move on the leaders. He struck the front in the final sixteenth under a strong hand ride to win by a half length. The final time for 1 1/8 miles was 1:51.42 over turf labeled “yielding.”
“When you hold him, hold him, hold him and try to let him go, it takes a little time to get him going,” said winning jockey John Velazquez. “When he’s off the bridle and relaxed, you pick him up, and he’s there for you. As soon as he saw the light on the backstretch, he was on the bridle. Once I let him go, it kind of took him a little bit to get going, he switched down the lane, I got after him, and he responded really well.”
With a propensity for longer distances, winning trainer Shug McGaughey said he will consider the Grade 2 Red Smith H., at 1 3/8 miles, Nov. 5 at Aqueduct for the 4-year-old.
“Maybe we’ll give him the winter off (after the Red Smith) and bring him back next year; see if he can be competitive in the big (graded turf) races,” the trainer said.
Boisterous, a Phipps Stable homebred, is 5-0-1 from 13 starts, with the $60,000 winner’s share pushing his earnings to $275,057.
Boisterous is from a typical top-class Phipps mare, Emanating, who won $273,030 and accounted for the Polly Drummond S. and placed in three graded stakes, including the Test (G1) and Lake Placid H. (G2). The family also boasts Grade 1 winners Versailles Treaty and Gold Fever.
