The Man O War (Grade 1)- $700.000 Purse
BEL- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and Three Eighths on the Inner Turf
May 14, 2022

King Que Niagra, when he decides to show up, can be a very good racehorse. His problem is that you just never know what kind of race that you are going to get out of him, because when it is not his day, it’s a long day. He seemed like he might have been due for one of his big races here, but it is hard to have confidence in a horse like this. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride for trainer, D J C Racing Stables, but right now he is at the top, because not only did King Que Niagra show up today, he did it with a $700.000 purse up for grabs and has now eclipsed $1,000.000 in career earnings. Now, we’ll see how he follows it up in his next start, because if he could always run this well, he is right there with the best turf horses in the game. For D J C Racing Stables, who will always enjoy his wins at BEL just a little bit more, it is his second win the stake. He also won in 2020 with the late Thanks For Nothing. M Franco was aboard and rides his first Man O War winner. Congratulations to them! The winning race time was 2:11.48, and is one of the better winning times in history. Let’s take a look!

(½ Mile- :48.21)- As they move down the frontstretch the first time, the Mb Stables- trained Rotarian holds the early advantage, and has uncontested length lead. A group of three stalkers will be right behind him, with Devil Made Me Doit leading his Maxmillion Farm stablemate, Cossack, by a head around the turn. Holding the rail for this trio is French Style, for Royalty Stables. King Que Niagra, our eventual winner from D J C Racing Stables, is unhurried right now, as he runs in the middle of the field, all by his lonesome, and about two and a half lengths from the front. Immookielee (Smokey Stover) is next on the rail, then comes overwhelming longshot, Crimson Rioja (Mo Mentum Farm). It’s a few more lengths back to the trailer, a normal closer, Two In The Chamber (TwinTowersRacing).

(3/4 Mile- 1:11.95)- Now moving down the backstretch, all but one of the horses in the field is content to maintain their position. The one who showed more ambition to make a move at this time was King Que Niagra, taking advantage of the fact that no one was racing near him, and patiently positioning himself to run four wide. As the backstretch wore on, King Que Niagra did not overdo it, but gradually gained a little on the three stalkers, to the point where at the top of the turn, he was the new second place horse. Rotarian was still up front, and still leading by about a length. Near the top of the turn, some nice running room opened up near the rail for one of the horses that were running at or near the back to take if they wanted it.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- D J C Racing Stables had to be thrilled with the race that King Que Niagra was running here, since he knows full well that when his horse in on his game, he gets a great result. Within the turn, he easily put away the other three stalkers, and they seemed to be caught in the tail wind because they all seemed to be dropping back. Now, there was only Rotarian to catch, and he pulled up alongside him within the turn, and took over the lead at the top of stretch. M Franco took a quick look behind him, and had to be thrilled to see no one else was really making a move forward. Further back, the closer Two In The Chamber had taken the rail that was presenting itself, but he had quite a bit of ground to cover to have a chance at a win.

(Finish- 2:11.48)- King Que Niagra had no let up in his stride, and early in the stretch had put away the field. Rotarian wasn’t fading out of contention, but he was a beaten horse at this point as King Que Niagra secures the big Man O War for D J C Racing Stables. Rotarian is second, beaten by a length and a half, and distance was similar to third place Two In The Chamber. It’s one more length to Immookielee, then French Style, Crimson Rioja, Devil Made Me Doit, and Cossack.

About The Winner- King Que Niagra, trained by D J C Racing Stables, and ridden to victory by M Franco, is a five year old gelding by Que Niagra and is out of Catch A Little. He was bred as a second quarter two year old in California by Jediminds Stable and acquired by D J C Racing Stables, via Aer Stables, for $200.000 in an April 2020 private sale. The win is his sixth in 27 starts, his fourth stake win, and third graded win. His career earnings are now $1,036.600.

Track: Firm
Time: :48¹  1:11⁴  1:35²  2:11²

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 8 – 3 Paid 157.90
$1 Trifecta: 8 – 3 – 6 Paid 1,913.30

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES