Sullivan Lane Stable and Vincent S. Scuderi’s CLASSIC ENDEAVOR (Silver Buck)
took the lead soon after the start of Saturday’s $112,100
Queens County H. (G3) at
Aqueduct and easily held off the determined late run of Evening Attire (Black
Tie Affair [Ire]) to post a three-quarter-of-a-length victory in the 1 3/16-mile test. With
jockey Aaron Gryder maintaining a tight hold throughout, the six-year-old set
splits of :23 1/5, :47 4/5, 1:12 2/5 and 1:38 over the fast inner dirt before stopping the clock in
1:57. He paid
$7.50, $3.90 and $2.80 as the second pick at 5-2 while keying the $30.80 exacta and $66 trifecta (1-5-2).
“I was initially thinking about skipping this race, but the way he won last
time — which was so easy — if he didn’t put his belly down, I figured he had
another race in him,” trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said. “Maybe we’ll just sit and
run in the Sunshine Millions next (at Gulfstream Park). It would give him plenty
of time. It’s a million bucks, babe, we got to go for it.”
Evening Attire broke slowly and raced in the rear until the final turn, where
he mounted a game rally on the outside. He couldn’t quite get the winner, but
managed to hold Colita (Grindstone) to third by a half-length and returned $3.70 and $2.60.
Show was worth $2.70. Kissin Saint (Kissin Kris) also put in his run while
racing wide and was just a nose farther back in fourth. Next across the line came Zakocity
(Precocity), Hydrogen (Pleasant Colony), Country Be Gold (Summer Squall), Roaring Fever (Storm
Cat), and Admiralty Arch (Arch). Private Lap (Private
Terms) was withdrawn.
Classic Endeavor passed through the claiming ranks twice this year, going
first to Scott Lake before Dutrow snapped him up for $50,000 in August.
This was his second stakes victory for Dutrow, having taken the Stuyvesant H.
(G3) in mid-November. The dark bay also owns wins from last year’s Excelsior
Breeders’ Cup H. (G3) and Frisk Me Now S., and recorded his fifth straight score
here to move his mark to 56-16-9-3, $715,153.
Classic Endeavor passed through the sales ring twice, going for $20,000 as an
OBS January yearling then bringing $40,000 as an OBS March two-year-old. Bred in
Florida by Diane H. Flowers, he is the sixth registered foal out of Bold Juana
(John Alden), making him a full brother to stakes winner Little Bold
Belle and a half-brother to multiple stakes hero B. B. Best (Yes It’s True), who
recently finished a close fourth in the Kentucky Jockey Club S. (G2).