Evening Attire wears winning well

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Evening Attire confirmed his victory in the Discovery Handicap was no fluke by running down 4-5 favorite Balto Star inside the sixteenth pole en route to a 1 3/4-length victory in Saturday's Grade 3, $111,900 Queens County Handicap* (click here for chart) on a balmy day at Aqueduct.

Balto Star, who usually races on the lead but who stalked in second on Saturday, finished second, 2 1/4 lengths ahead of the pacesetting Top Official. Completing the order of finish were Runspastum, Boston Party, Cat's at Home, Pickupspeed, and Country Be Gold. Banner Headline, Talk's Cheap, and Volponi scratched.

Evening Attire, who only five weeks ago was still eligible for his entry-level allowance condition, became the 16th 3-year-old to win the Queens County Handicap. He joined Cox's Ridge (1972), Country Pine (1983), Sports View (1990), and Mr. Sinatra (1997) as 3-year-olds to win both the Discovery and Queens County.

Under Shaun Bridgmohan, Evening Attire settled into third position while racing along the inside part of the track. Turning for home, Bridgmohan guided Evening Attire to the three-path and Evening Attire went past Balto Star inside the sixteenth pole. Evening Attire, trained by Pat Kelly, covered the 1 3/16 miles in 1:55.08 over a fast track and returned $23 to win. He returned $133 when he won the Discovery.

"He sat off those horses real nice and he was real kind today," Bridgmohan said. "When I took him to the outside and into the clear he took off."

Aqueduct's main track was favoring front-runners all day, which figured to be an advantage for Balto Star. But jockey Richard Migliore was content to let Balto Star settle into second, two lengths off Top Official, who under Diane Nelson set fractions of 24.89 seconds, 48.82, and 1:11.76. Leaving the three-eighths pole, Migliore thought he had Top Official measured, but when he tried to go past, Top Official fought on.

Balto Star made the lead inside the eighth pole, but could not hold off Evening Attire.

"I went from being real confident to having to start riding him pretty hard," Migliore said. "I'm a little disappointed. I was very confident leaving the three-eighths pole. The winner is an improving horse."

Evening Attire and Balto Star could meet again in the Grade 3 Aqueduct Handicap over the inner track Jan. 19.

for the Queens County Handicap chart.*

* Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.