Ohana Honor broke through for a well-deserved stakes victory in the $150,000 Knickerbocker on the turf at Aqueduct on Saturday, delivering a third stakes triumph and fourth win overall for West Point at Aqueduct during the first 15 days of November.

Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the five-year-old son of Honor Code saved ground early and unleashed a powerful late rush to seal the deal.

Jockey Flavien Prat said, “The pace was good and he was traveling very well all the way around. He gave me a good kick when I asked him,” Prat explained. Noticing how comfortable Ohana Honor was, he added, “Since he’s been running long, I thought, ‘might as well take him and get going early.’ He gave me a good turn-of-foot.”

Ohana Honor settled behind the leaders along the rail, saving ground on the firm turf while the pace set up up front. As they straightened for home, Prat angled him out and he surged between foes, grabbing the lead by the stretch call and powering away to win by about 2¼ lengths in 1:48.23.

West Point Thoroughbreds Executive Vice President Tom Bellhouse praised how McGaughey and his team have managed Ohana Honor, who finished second in the 2024 Man o’ War Stakes (G2) and third in the 2024 Manhattan Stakes (G1).

Bellhouse said, “He’s been a fun horse to have in the barn. Shug and his team have done an amazing job keeping him fresh — knowing when to start and when to give him a break.” He added that in today’s performance, Ohana Honor seemed to have paced the race “measured the whole way.”

With this win, the gelding not only adds black-type to his credentials, but he also adds some excitement to the pipeline, as West Point and co-owner DJ Stable secured a New York-bred half brother to Ohana Honor at the 2025 Fasig-Tipton New York-bred yearling sale. The son of Not This Time is in the early training process at Eisaman Equine in Ocala, the same farm where Ohana Honor spent time off earlier this year.