Matter of fact, he didn’t start to sizzle until late in his 3-year-old year. That was the year he won the Discovery and his first Queen’s City Handicap.
New York loves this Kentucky-bred son of Black Tie Affair. He has made most of his starts at NYRA tracks. He is the oldest horse ever to have won the Queen’s City Handicap, a race dating back to 1902.
Evening Attire is everything an owner hopes for. He has class, endurance, and a big bankroll. He is closing in on $3 million in earnings and continues to enjoy the life of a racehorse. Like Kelso, Forego, John Henry, Funny Cide and Commentator, fewer anatomical parts allowed him to race on. An entire horse of this caliber would have long ago gone off to stud.
Last month, Evening Attire traveled to Pennsylvania and set a track record while winning the mile and a half Greenwood Cup at Philadelphia Park by 8 1/4 lengths. That’s one of those “win and you’re in” Breeders’ Cup races so the “old warrior’ stamped his ticket for Santa Anita’s Breeders’ Cup Marathon. I spoke with co-owner Mary Grant and she said, “We’re not convinced we want to make the trip.” She added, “We have no idea what Santa Anita’s new surface will be like, he’s smart and won’t unleash his run if the surface doesn’t suit him.” Looking over at him as he begged for another mint she added, “Besides he is 10 years old, he may not want to fly anymore.”
Evening Attire collects more fans every time he runs. His next start will be his 70th. In his later years, he has adopted a habit of sauntering away from the starting gate, he nearly dwells. You get the impression that he wants all the young upstarts to display themselves first. Once he gets a long look at them, he lopes along testing the surface. When he deems it safe, he kicks into a gear that mows them down and the crowd gets crazed with delight.
Mary laments that there are too few opportunities for distance horses to run. They want to run him here. She said, “He loves the Saratoga track.” He is entered in a turf race and if it rains causing it to be switched to the main track we may see him run there. If not the Woodward is the only other spot. Mary told me, “We may go in there even though we would really prefer not to run against Curlin at that distance.” She added, “The fans want to see him run, he’s fit, happy, and needs to race.”
Mary espoused how Evening Attire created a ripple effect of happy encounters. One enthusiastic fan created www.eveningattire.net. He simply wanted people to have the opportunity to visit the horse on-line. I became part of the ripple effect while talking with Mary and watching this game old gelding exude well-being. The people from the recent Gallup Poll missed asking him what he thinks of racing. One look tells you how much he loves this life.
Evening Attire was born on Valentine’s Day, perhaps he was always meant to win hearts and lots of important races. Mary said he has no tolerance for farm life, according to her, “He likes living at the track.”
Marilyn Lane, a freelance writer, has a lifelong association with horses. Her experience includes more than 20 years as an owner, trainer and breeder of thoroughbreds. She was an assistant trainer to Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg during Alysheba’s racing career.
You can reach her at marilynlane@msn.com.
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