Evil Minister pays $51 in Sapling

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Evil Minister rallied to beat Park Avenue Ball by three-quarters of a length and upset the Grade 3, $100,000 Saturday at Monmouth Park.

Evil Minister ($51), the longest shot in the eight-horse field, scored his second career win in Monmouth's premier race for 2-year-olds.

Evil Minister debuted at Monmouth on June 19 and finished fourth. He won his maiden last time out at Pimlico on Aug. 1 with the addition of Lasix.

That victory gave Maryland-based trainer Erik Juvonen the confidence to take the jump into a graded stakes.

"Ever since the win, everything has come into focus for him," said Juvonen. "I would like eventually to stretch him out, but we'll take it step by step right now."

Ridden by Julien Pimentel, Evil Minister ran the six furlongs in 1:11.21.

Park Avenue Ball, unbeaten in both starts at Monmouth, including the Tyro Stakes, took the lead from the pacesetting Upscaled at the top of the lane. He appeared poised to extend his unbeaten streak but Evil Minister kept eating into the lead with every jump.

"I followed Park Avenue Ball most of the way," said Pimentel. "I thought he was the one to beat. Turning for home I angled outside of him and we just went by."

Upscaled, ridden by Jose Santos, held on for third.

Santos resumed riding Friday at Saratoga after recovering from a broken right arm suffered at Belmont Park on July 23.

* Gotaghostofachance ($6.60) set all the fractions and drew off to a 3 3/4-length win over Tap Day to capture the $60,000 Lamplighter Stakes for 3-year-olds.

A gray son of Silver Ghost, Gotaghostofachance ran the mile and 70 yards in 1:40.82 in his first race beyond six furlongs.

Gotaghostofachance, ridden by Stewart Elliott and trained by Ned Allard, improved his record to four wins in seven starts.

* Coney Kitty ($4.20) swung extremely wide on the final turn and breezed past the pack to win the $60,000 Omnibus Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the turf with Eibar Coa aboard for trainer James Toner.