Evening Attire (horse)
Encyclopedia
Evening Attire is a Kentucky
bred Thoroughbred
racehorse, foaled on February 14, 1998, though most of his racing career has taken place in New York
.
Thomas J. Kelly
, and owned by Kelly along with his long time clients Joe and Mary Grant, he was first trained by Tommy's son Tim Kelly, but when Tim retired, was taken over by another of Tommy's sons, Pat Kelly. The first time Tommy Kelly watched him breeze, he said, "That's a special horse. He'll be a stakes winner." He's also said, "I can't put it into words what's it's been like owning and breeding a horse like Evening Attire. After some of his races, I went home and cried. How lucky can one person get?"
Kelly purchased Evening Attire's dam, Concolor, from Doe Run Farm, one of his former clients. He invited Joe Grant, an old friend, to become a 50/50 partner in her off-spring. Because of a back problem as well as a heart problem, he hasn't been to many of Evening Attire's races, but he never misses them on television.
A dappled gray, Evening Attire is now a hard-knocking veteran, and a gelding...one of his testicles was immature and stuck in the canal. Said Pat Kelly, "It had been bugging him, so they wound up gelding him. The poor guy had to have two surgeries over the winter." As a gelding
, Evening Attire raced until the age of ten. Out of the successful Mr. Prospector
line, he raced well off the pace, often closed dramatically, and became a well loved grand old man of racing.
As a two-and-three-year-old, Evening Attire came off five straight defeats in allowance company to suddenly win back-to-back stakes against top-class horses. In 2002 he earned his most important win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup
Things aren't quite like that now, but Pat Kelly never lost faith in Evening Attire...even though the trainer conceded the classy 10-year-old was "a little slower, but not a lot slower than he used to be. He's prolonged his career without needing a whole lot of down time."
winner Black Tie Affair
.
A horse who loves the off going, as of the summer of 2008, Evening Attire had had a storied career. Still racing in 2008, he made 69 career starts, winning 15, placing in 16, and showing in nine. A millionaire twice over, he closed in on three million dollars at the races.
On March 3, 2007, to the vocal delight of his fans, at odds of 8-1 and at the age of 9, he took the 52nd running of The Stymie by two and a half lengths. Evening Attire, as is his custom at the start of any race, ran along sedately, but then at the 8th pole he made a sharp move, as sharp as if the years had dropped away, and kicked for home with confidence. As the Aqueduct track writer wrote of the race: "Evening Attire proved that age means little if you have class." http://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/stories/Stymie.html
Evening Attire finished third in the 2007 Stuyvesant Handicap
but with energy to spare. He'd hesitated at the start, a trait his trainer says the 10-year-old gelding developed in 2007. Evening Attire was entered in the 2007 Queens County Handicap
at Aqueduct (a race he won back in 2001) and took it by a head under the veteran jockey
, Edgar Prado. He is the oldest horse ever to win the Queens County which has been run since 1902. After the race (in which he defeated Hunting who had won the 2007 Stuyvesant), and as fans applauded his victory, Prado said: "He knows his way around the track. When he's right, he's pretty tough."
On May 15, 2008, Evening Attire placed in the Fit to Fight Stakes at Belmont. As was his new habit, he hesitated at the start, then trailed throughout, until rallying to come a good second.
Though his trainer Patrick Kelly had thought to take him out of stakes competition, he was convinced by the NYRA stakes coordinator, Andrew Byrnes, to enter him in the June 6, 2008 Brooklyn Handicap
at Belmont Park
contested at a mile and a half. Cornelio Velasquez
wore the familiar Royal Blue with yellow Chevrons, yellow Diamonds on the sleeves, and the yellow cap with blue pompon. Ten year old Evening Attire placed, coming from sixteen lengths out of it at the quarter pole and went wide right down the center of the track to rapidly close on five-year-old Delosvientos. Delosvientos went wire to wire, but the slowly breaking Evening Attire got within two lengths of the winner. Patrick Kelly said, "In the barn today, he had his game face on early. I’m always happy when he’s in the money. It was fun to try."
On July 19, 2008, in his first win outside the state of New York, Evening Attire won the Greenwood Cup Stakes
at Philadelphia Park Racetrack
by 8¼-lengths and broke the 16-year-old track record while doing so. The previous track record for 1½ miles was set on January 4, 1992 by Laugh a Minute: 2:31 flat. Evening Attire did it in 2:29.90. This win earned him entry into the newly-created 2008 Breeders' Cup Marathon
.
dirt tracks. At Aqueduct, Evening Attire is a seven-time stakes winner.
Quoted from The Daily Racing Form: "From June 2002 to November 2003, Evening Attire ran in 11 Grade 1 and Grade 2 races. In that span he ran against such stars as 2003's Horse of the Year
Mineshaft
, dual classic winner Funny Cide
, and Medaglia d'Oro
."
His trainer, Tommy Kelly, said, “He was one of a kind. He had to be castrated early on because he couldn’t break from the gate. Still to this day, he didn’t break like any other racehorse. But at the final end when it counted, from the quarter pole to the wire, he always put in his run. I’ve never seen him back down once. He might have finished second, third, fourth, or fifth, but he was already running at the end, where the best part of a racehorse manifests itself. We’re all going to miss him.”
On Saturday October 25, 2008 Evening Attire was brought out to Belmont Park one last time. This included a walk around the paddock and culminated in a celebration held in the Belmont Park Winner's Circle.
His next stop was Akindale farm in Pawling, New York
. Akindale is a farm dedicated to the rescue, rehab, and retraining of retired thoroughbred racehorses.
the Evening Attire Stakes in his honor. The first Evening Attire took place on January 17, 2009.
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
bred Thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorse, foaled on February 14, 1998, though most of his racing career has taken place in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
A little history, early and late
Bred by Joseph M. Grant and Hall of FamerNational Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...
Thomas J. Kelly
Thomas Joseph Kelly
Thomas Joseph Kelly is a United States Racing Hall of Fame trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses as well as an owner and breeder....
, and owned by Kelly along with his long time clients Joe and Mary Grant, he was first trained by Tommy's son Tim Kelly, but when Tim retired, was taken over by another of Tommy's sons, Pat Kelly. The first time Tommy Kelly watched him breeze, he said, "That's a special horse. He'll be a stakes winner." He's also said, "I can't put it into words what's it's been like owning and breeding a horse like Evening Attire. After some of his races, I went home and cried. How lucky can one person get?"
Kelly purchased Evening Attire's dam, Concolor, from Doe Run Farm, one of his former clients. He invited Joe Grant, an old friend, to become a 50/50 partner in her off-spring. Because of a back problem as well as a heart problem, he hasn't been to many of Evening Attire's races, but he never misses them on television.
A dappled gray, Evening Attire is now a hard-knocking veteran, and a gelding...one of his testicles was immature and stuck in the canal. Said Pat Kelly, "It had been bugging him, so they wound up gelding him. The poor guy had to have two surgeries over the winter." As a gelding
Gelding
A gelding is a castrated horse or other equine such as a donkey or a mule. Castration, and the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male horse to be calmer and better-behaved, making the animal quieter, gentler and potentially more suitable as an everyday...
, Evening Attire raced until the age of ten. Out of the successful Mr. Prospector
Mr. Prospector
Mr. Prospector was a thoroughbred racehorse foaled in Kentucky, whose descendants have been dominant in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. He won half of his 14 career races.-Background:...
line, he raced well off the pace, often closed dramatically, and became a well loved grand old man of racing.
As a two-and-three-year-old, Evening Attire came off five straight defeats in allowance company to suddenly win back-to-back stakes against top-class horses. In 2002 he earned his most important win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup
Jockey Club Gold Cup
The Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...
Things aren't quite like that now, but Pat Kelly never lost faith in Evening Attire...even though the trainer conceded the classy 10-year-old was "a little slower, but not a lot slower than he used to be. He's prolonged his career without needing a whole lot of down time."
Bloodlines
Evening Attire is the son of the 1991 Eclipse Award for Horse of the YearEclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
winner Black Tie Affair
Black Tie Affair
Black Tie Affair was a thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by American businessman Stephen D. Peskoff, he was out of the mare Hat Tab Girl and sired by Miswaki, who also sired Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Urban Sea and who was a two-time Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland.Black Tie...
.
A horse who loves the off going, as of the summer of 2008, Evening Attire had had a storied career. Still racing in 2008, he made 69 career starts, winning 15, placing in 16, and showing in nine. A millionaire twice over, he closed in on three million dollars at the races.
On March 3, 2007, to the vocal delight of his fans, at odds of 8-1 and at the age of 9, he took the 52nd running of The Stymie by two and a half lengths. Evening Attire, as is his custom at the start of any race, ran along sedately, but then at the 8th pole he made a sharp move, as sharp as if the years had dropped away, and kicked for home with confidence. As the Aqueduct track writer wrote of the race: "Evening Attire proved that age means little if you have class." http://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/stories/Stymie.html
Evening Attire finished third in the 2007 Stuyvesant Handicap
Stuyvesant Handicap
The Stuyvesant Handicap is an American thoroughbred horse race held in the fall of the year at Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, New York. A Grade III event, it is set over nine furlongs on the dirt for three-year-olds and up...
but with energy to spare. He'd hesitated at the start, a trait his trainer says the 10-year-old gelding developed in 2007. Evening Attire was entered in the 2007 Queens County Handicap
Queens County Handicap
The Queens County Handicap is an American Grade III Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of December at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York...
at Aqueduct (a race he won back in 2001) and took it by a head under the veteran jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...
, Edgar Prado. He is the oldest horse ever to win the Queens County which has been run since 1902. After the race (in which he defeated Hunting who had won the 2007 Stuyvesant), and as fans applauded his victory, Prado said: "He knows his way around the track. When he's right, he's pretty tough."
On May 15, 2008, Evening Attire placed in the Fit to Fight Stakes at Belmont. As was his new habit, he hesitated at the start, then trailed throughout, until rallying to come a good second.
Though his trainer Patrick Kelly had thought to take him out of stakes competition, he was convinced by the NYRA stakes coordinator, Andrew Byrnes, to enter him in the June 6, 2008 Brooklyn Handicap
Brooklyn Handicap
The Brooklyn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to three-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt....
at Belmont Park
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Elmont in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, on Long Island adjoining New York City. It first opened on May 4, 1905...
contested at a mile and a half. Cornelio Velasquez
Cornelio Velásquez
Cornelio H. Velásquez is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He was introduced to horse racing at age fifteen by trainer Carlos Salazar Guardia in his native Panama and enrolled in the national jockey school...
wore the familiar Royal Blue with yellow Chevrons, yellow Diamonds on the sleeves, and the yellow cap with blue pompon. Ten year old Evening Attire placed, coming from sixteen lengths out of it at the quarter pole and went wide right down the center of the track to rapidly close on five-year-old Delosvientos. Delosvientos went wire to wire, but the slowly breaking Evening Attire got within two lengths of the winner. Patrick Kelly said, "In the barn today, he had his game face on early. I’m always happy when he’s in the money. It was fun to try."
On July 19, 2008, in his first win outside the state of New York, Evening Attire won the Greenwood Cup Stakes
Greenwood Cup Stakes
The Greenwood Cup Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually each summer at Philadelphia Park Racetrack in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Open to three-year-olds and up, the ungraded stakes event is set at a distance of 1½ miles on dirt. The race offers a purse of $200,000 plus $50,000...
at Philadelphia Park Racetrack
Philadelphia Park Racetrack
Parx Racing and Casino is a thoroughbred horse racetrack and racino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. It currently houses 3,300 slot machines.-History:...
by 8¼-lengths and broke the 16-year-old track record while doing so. The previous track record for 1½ miles was set on January 4, 1992 by Laugh a Minute: 2:31 flat. Evening Attire did it in 2:29.90. This win earned him entry into the newly-created 2008 Breeders' Cup Marathon
Breeders' Cup Marathon
The Breeders' Cup Marathon is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race established in 2008 as part of the annual Breeders' Cup World Championships. A Weight for Age race open to horses three years old and up, it was contested on dirt at a distance of 1½ miles in its inaugural running. For 2009,...
.
Highlights of a long racing career
A New York horse through and through (even though bred in Kentucky), he seldom raced outside New York. Evening Attire owns at least one graded stakes race win over all three New York Racing AssociationNew York Racing Association
The New York Racing Association, Inc. is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest thoroughbred horse-racing tracks in the state of New York. It runs Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens, Belmont Park in Elmont, Long Island , and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga...
dirt tracks. At Aqueduct, Evening Attire is a seven-time stakes winner.
- 2001: 1st Queens County HandicapQueens County HandicapThe Queens County Handicap is an American Grade III Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of December at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York...
Grade IIIGraded stakes raceA graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
and Discovery HandicapDiscovery HandicapThe Discovery Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually during the latter part of November at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York...
(GIII) - 2002: 1st Jockey Club Gold CupJockey Club Gold CupThe Jockey Club Gold Cup, established in 1919, is a prestigious thoroughbred flat race open to horses of either gender three-years-old and up. It is typically the main event of the fall meeting at Belmont Park, just as the Belmont Stakes is of the spring meeting and the Travers Stakes is of the...
(earning a 92 Speed Figure) (GI), Saratoga Breeders Cup Handicup (GII), Aqueduct Handicap (GIII), Red Smith HandicapRed Smith HandicapThe Red Smith Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. A race on turf open to horses age three and older, it is run in the first week of November over a distance of 1⅜ miles ....
(GII), and 2nd in Massachusetts Handicap (GII) - 2003: 2nd in Queens County Handicap (GIII), Clark HandicapClark HandicapThe Clark Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November/early December at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Among the oldest races in the United States, it was first run in 1875, the year the racetrack opened for business...
(GII), 3rd in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) and Whitney HandicapWhitney HandicapThe Whitney Handicap is an American Grade 1 handicap race for Thoroughbred racehorses three years of age and older run at a distance of 1⅛ miles. In 2007, the Breeders' Cup Ltd...
(GI) - 2004: 1st Saratoga Breeders' Cup HandicapSaratoga Breeders' Cup HandicapThe Saratoga Breeders’ Cup Handicap was, until it was discontinued in 2005, a Thoroughbred race for horses three-years-old and up run at Saratoga Race Course...
(which he won twice, in one win beating Funny CideFunny CideFunny Cide is a Thoroughbred race horse who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2003. He is the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the first gelding to win since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.-Bloodlines:...
and Bowman's Band with a 90 Equibase Speed Figure) (GII), 2nd Knickerbocker Handicap (GII, Excelsior Breeders' Cup Handicap (GIII), Queens County Handicap (GIII), Ben Ali StakesBen Ali StakesThe Ben Ali Stakes is an American race for thoroughbred horses run in the Spring of each year at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. For 4-year-olds and up, it is a Grade III event set at a distance of one mile and one eighth mile on the dirt...
(GIII), Aqueduct Handicap (GIII), and John B. Campbell Handicap. - 2005: 1st Stuyvesant HandicapStuyvesant HandicapThe Stuyvesant Handicap is an American thoroughbred horse race held in the fall of the year at Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, New York. A Grade III event, it is set over nine furlongs on the dirt for three-year-olds and up...
(GIII) - 2006: 2nd Aqueduct HandicapAqueduct HandicapThe race is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. It was called the Aqueduct Handicap, but beginning in 2009, the name was changed to the Evening Attire Stakes in honor of the great grey gelding Evening Attire. He raced until he was 10 years...
(GIII), 3rd Stymie Handicap. - 2007: 1st Queens County HandicapQueens County HandicapThe Queens County Handicap is an American Grade III Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the second week of December at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York...
(for the second time). 1st The Stymie Handicap, 3rd the Stuyvesant Handicap. - 2008: 1st in the Greenwood Cup StakesGreenwood Cup StakesThe Greenwood Cup Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually each summer at Philadelphia Park Racetrack in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Open to three-year-olds and up, the ungraded stakes event is set at a distance of 1½ miles on dirt. The race offers a purse of $200,000 plus $50,000...
at Philadelphia Park RacetrackPhiladelphia Park RacetrackParx Racing and Casino is a thoroughbred horse racetrack and racino in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. It currently houses 3,300 slot machines.-History:...
, setting a new track record for a mile and a half. 2nd in the Aqueduct HandicapAqueduct HandicapThe race is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. It was called the Aqueduct Handicap, but beginning in 2009, the name was changed to the Evening Attire Stakes in honor of the great grey gelding Evening Attire. He raced until he was 10 years...
. 2nd in the Fit to Fight Stakes. 2nd in the Grade II Brooklyn HandicapBrooklyn HandicapThe Brooklyn Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to three-year-olds and up willing to race one and one-half miles on dirt....
.
Quoted from The Daily Racing Form: "From June 2002 to November 2003, Evening Attire ran in 11 Grade 1 and Grade 2 races. In that span he ran against such stars as 2003's Horse of the Year
Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. It has been awarded since 1887 to the horse, irrespective of age, whose performance during the racing year is deemed the most outstanding....
Mineshaft
Mineshaft (horse)
Mineshaft was a multi-millionaire American thoroughbred racehorse and successful stallion. He was sired by 1992 U.S. Horse of the Year and U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee A.P. Indy, who in turn was a son of 1977 U.S. Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. His dam, Prospectors Delite, is by the...
, dual classic winner Funny Cide
Funny Cide
Funny Cide is a Thoroughbred race horse who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes in 2003. He is the first New York-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby and the first gelding to win since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929.-Bloodlines:...
, and Medaglia d'Oro
Medaglia d'Oro
Medaglia d'Oro is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Albert & Joyce Bell, a translation of his Italian name means "Gold Medal." He was sired by Ireland's 1991 Champion 2-Year-Old, El Prado, who was a son of the fourteen-time Leading sire in Great Britain & Ireland, Sadler's Wells who in...
."
Retirement
On September 28, 2008 his owners and trainer announced that Evening Attire would retire due to a suspensory injury.His trainer, Tommy Kelly, said, “He was one of a kind. He had to be castrated early on because he couldn’t break from the gate. Still to this day, he didn’t break like any other racehorse. But at the final end when it counted, from the quarter pole to the wire, he always put in his run. I’ve never seen him back down once. He might have finished second, third, fourth, or fifth, but he was already running at the end, where the best part of a racehorse manifests itself. We’re all going to miss him.”
On Saturday October 25, 2008 Evening Attire was brought out to Belmont Park one last time. This included a walk around the paddock and culminated in a celebration held in the Belmont Park Winner's Circle.
His next stop was Akindale farm in Pawling, New York
Pawling (village), New York
Pawling is a village in Dutchess County, New York, USA. The population was 2,233 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area...
. Akindale is a farm dedicated to the rescue, rehab, and retraining of retired thoroughbred racehorses.
In honor of...
Aqueduct Race Track has renamed its Aqueduct HandicapAqueduct Handicap
The race is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. It was called the Aqueduct Handicap, but beginning in 2009, the name was changed to the Evening Attire Stakes in honor of the great grey gelding Evening Attire. He raced until he was 10 years...
the Evening Attire Stakes in his honor. The first Evening Attire took place on January 17, 2009.