FLORENCE, Ky. -- He defeated Mineshaft three months ago, and now he has taken down another stalwart in the North American handicap division. Perfect Drift, the gritty gelding trained by Murray Johnson, posted a relatively comfortable victory Saturday at Turfway Park in the showcase race of the 10th annual Kentucky Cup series, the $350,000 Classic , gliding past heavily favored Congaree under a hand ride from Pat Day.

Despite the highly impressive performance, there will be no summit meeting at year's end for Perfect Drift. Johnson reiterated that his stable star will not join the top runners in the handicap division by running in the Oct. 25 Breeders' Cup Classic.

"It looked like Pat had him eased up at the wire, so hopefully he'll come out of this the right way and go on to the next one," said Johnson, referring to the $750,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup on Sept. 28.

The Kentucky Cup victory for Perfect Drift was remarkably similar to his win against Mineshaft in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs, albeit easier. Always within striking distance of the front-running Congaree, who loped along on easy fractions of 24.31 seconds, 48.35, and 1:11.84, Perfect Drift eased alongside leaving the quarter pole. With Day never reaching for his whip, Perfect Drift proceeded to gradually edge away and win by a length. He returned $4.80 after finishing 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.43 over a fast track.

Congaree, the 1-2 favorite under Edgar Prado, finished another four lengths ahead of Crafty Shaw. Even the Score and M B Sea were never serious factors and completed the order of finish.

The $2 exacta returned $6. The $2 trifecta paid $13.60, and there was no show betting.

Perfect Drift, a 4-year-old gelding by Dynaformer, has now won 8 of 16 starts for his owner-breeder, Kansas City heart surgeon Dr. William Reed. Besides his win by a head over Mineshaft three months ago, his other major victories include the 2002 Lane's End Stakes at Turfway, making him the first horse to win both of the track's marquee events. The $221,500 winner's share lifts his career bankroll to $1,771,368.

Perfect Drift, based at the Trackside training center in Louisville, is expected to meet yet another highly accomplished handicap horse, Tenpins, in the 1 1/4-mile Hawthorne Gold Cup.

Johnson and Reed have said on numerous occasions that they do not want to run in the BC Classic this year, "although that doesn't mean we won't do it another year," Johnson said. e, who