It came in the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap against Animal Kingdom, who was preparing for the Dubai World Cup on synthetic. Despite it being a little bit short for the stayer - nine furlongs - Point of Entry showed his class by turning back the challenge of his chestnut rival to win. That defeat set Animal Kingdom up for a big win in the World Cup a month and a half later.
Point of Entry took a long break after that. He was scheduled to run against Wise Dan in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, but was scratched when the ground came up quite soft. (It wasn't all that bad of a day for his connections - they did take down the Derby with Orb a race later!) His next start would be in the Manhattan Handicap over another yielding surface; this time, McGaughey would not scratch the dark bay son of Dynaformer. He would face old rivals Optimizer and Twilight Eclipse, among others. It was clear that Point of Entry was the class of the field - little did anyone know that he would have to use every ounce of that class on Manhattan day.
As usual, Point of Entry took back to sit near the rear of the field, comfortably running a distance behind Plainview, who was setting ambitious fractions for a turf route on soft ground. Steady as could be, the heavy favorite slowly began to make up the ground on the backstretch, passing horses with those long, even strides of his. They hit the sweeping Belmont turn and Optimizer rushed up to challenge the leader, poking a tenacious nose in front. Point of Entry and the gray Bombaguia moved in tandem, but it wasn't long before Bombaguia could not match strides with him.
Meanwhile, a bay in red-and-white Ramsey colors was desperately looking for somewhere to run. This was Real Solution, and later in the year, he would win the Arlington Million via disqualification. As they straightened out, Real Solution swung to the outside to challenge Optimizer just as Point of Entry set his sights on the leader as well. Point of Entry drew even with Optimizer and was poised to take the lead, but the Ramseys' colt was a new challenger on the outside. In fact, it almost looked as if Real Solution would sweep right on by the favorite.
It looked bad for the favorite in mid-stretch, but something remarkable happened in the very last part of the race - Point of Entry would not let him by. It must have been his Dynaformer blood, the same blood that caused his kin to irritably snap at passers-by...blood with a fierce reputation. On Belmont's yielding turf, Point of Entry turned back Real Solution on the outside and Optimizer on the inside and drew away, winning by a length and a half.
What seemed like a doomed favorite in the final furlong turned out to be the classiest winner of them all.
That edgy victory was not without consequence. Point of Entry came out of the race with a condylar fracture and was sidelined for several months. The Manhattan would be his final victory; he came back to finish a valiant fourth behind Magician in the Breeders' Cup Turf. Adena Springs called his name next, and the gamest of turf stayers now stands at stud for $25,000.
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