I went to visit trainer Pat Kelly to talk about the special things that are going to be happening at Belmont Park on Breeders' Cup Day for my favorite 10-year-old gray gelding, Evening Attire. As we were talking next to Pat's office at the end of the shedrow, the old guy stuck his head out of his stall and was nodding up and down, as if agreeing with everything we were saying! Plans are not finalized, but what I am most delighted with is that we've set up a special mailbox (eveningattire@nyrainc.com) for fans to write in and share their favorite memories of the horse. I'll be collecting these into a special book that will be presented to the horse's connections in a special ceremony at Belmont Park on Oct. 25, along with a DVD of all of his victories. Funny thing, in his 69 starts, he's only won ONCE at Belmont (it was, of course, his biggest victory in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup back in 2002). As I was going through his charts, I noticed that he failed to bring back a check only three times in his whole career. As Pat said, "He put all the kids through college."
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My favorite memory of Evening Attire, is my most recent, it is when the horse received the biggest applause on Belmont Stakes day this year (2008). This coming from a day when Benny The Bull and many other great newcomers and old timers ran that day, and the first Triple Crown threat in decades Big Brown. Evening Attire seemed so full of itself during the applause that day, as if the horse knew how much it is and will always be respected in Thoroughbred history.
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