ELMONT, N.Y. - Jerry Bailey keeps landing on outstanding horses, which is how fortune rewards the nation's leading rider. Where Bailey ends up, the money follows, and it happened again Saturday on a chilly, windy afternoon at Belmont Park.

	Timberoa was ridden for the first time by jockey Edgar Prado.

Seconds after Bailey was given a leg up on the standout English filly Lailani, the small tote board in the paddock blinked, dropping her price from 4-1 to 3-1 for the Grade I Flower Bowl Invitational. As it often does, late action has prophetic qualities, especially when Bailey is in the saddle.

When Bailey asked Lailani to go entering the stretch, she moved as quickly and decisively as the players who had gone to the windows and called out her number. Pacesetter England's Legend, the even-money favorite ridden by Corey Nakatani, led by two lengths at the quarter pole before Lailani and Bailey got serious. The margin was down to a half-length a furlong later, and Lailani drove past nearing the sixteenth pole and edged away by three-quarters of a length. She ran 1 1/4 miles on good turf in 2:01.88 and paid $6.90 to win as she ran her record this year to 7-for-7. Starine ran third, three-quarters of a length farther back.

"I didn't know what to expect from her since this was my first time riding her," Bailey said. "She handled everything great -- the surroundings and all. She accelerated pretty quickly on the turn and I give her a lot of credit for running down England's Legend. This will definitely have her ready for the Breeders' Cup [Filly & Mare Turf]."

Former jockey Joe Mercer, the racing manager for Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum, said he wasn't surprised. Apparently, he wasn't kidding. He was prepared for a celebration because in the winner's circle he passed out wads of cash to two members of Lailani's traveling party. Is there a nicer way to say thank you?

"I was very confident today," Mercer said. "I thought she'd win. It was wonderful. She's in great form and just keeps getting better and better."

It was the third consecutive Grade I win for Lailani, whose problems the past few months prove that even extended winning streaks can be trying. A few days after her previous race, the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood on Aug. 4, she tripped and fell. Then she lost weight this month on the trip from England and during a brief quarantine period, so it would have been no shock if she had not produced her best form.

Assistant trainer William Knight came to the States with Lailani while his boss, Edward Dunlop, stayed home. "She didn't have the greatest of trips coming over here," Knight said shortly after pocketing the money from Mercer. "She showed her true colors and that she's a tough, tough filly. The next few weeks will be very easy. We don't have to do much to keep her fit."

Mercer said Lailani would stay in New York and train up to the 1 3/8-mile Filly & Mare Turf at Belmont on Oct. 27, when she is likely to get a rematch from England's Legend. "I expect she will bounce back in the Breeders' Cup," Nakatani said.

Christophe Clement, who trains the runner-up, said, "Who knows? Maybe the winner is a very good horse. She is undefeated this year. On to the Breeders' Cup."

That's also the plan for King Cugat, who came up short at 3-5 odds under Bailey a half-hour later in the Grade I Turf Classic. Trainer Bill Mott, an even-tempered guy, didn't seem enthusiastic after watching his 4-year-old colt make no impact down the stretch against winner Timboroa.

"It looked like King Cugat eased up with five-eighths of a mile to go," Mott said. "He was actually closer at the quarter pole than he was at the wire. The pace was not ideal; it was very slow. That probably helped the winner, but it didn't help us. As for what's next, I don't expect our plans to change [for the Breeders' Cup]."

Jockey Edgar Prado took control of a paceless race with Timboroa, and the California shipper had no trouble holding off King Cugat by three lengths. Coming in third, 4 1/4 lengths behind the winner, was Cetewayo.

"I was very glad when Honor Glide and Slew Valley scratched out," Prado said. "I wound up the lone speed."

Speed is a relative term when you crawl 6 furlongs in 1:16.54 and a mile in 1:41.39. Timboroa went 12 furlongs in 2:29.43 and paid $8.70 for his second consecutive win for trainer Bobby Frankel. "I was thinking about sending him to the lead," Frankel said. "When I heard of the two scratches, it became a no-brainer."

The decision on whether to go for the $2-million Breeders' Cup Turf also seems easy. Timboroa would have to be supplemented for 20 percent of the purse, $400,000, which is only $50,000 less than the winner's share in the Turf Classic. "I don't think he would run in the Breeders' Cup," Frankel said. "We'll probably look at the Japan Cup."