Veiled Prophet Takes Friday 'Downs After Dark' Feature Before 15,583 Fans
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The Churchill Downs Paddock and Clubhouse were bathed in a color scheme that reflected the "Mad About Plaid" theme of the first Fall Meet "Downs After Dark" night racing session. A crowd of 15,583 took in the 11-race program on Friday, Nov. 19.
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Fans in the first floor box seats near the finish cheered during the first Fall Meet "Downs After Dark" night racing session at Churchill Downs. The first racing under the lights during the Fall Meet attracted a crowd of 15,583 to the historic home of the Kentucky Derby on Friday, Nov. 19.
G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and the Louise Ireland Humphrey Revocable Trust-2008’s Veiled Prophet swept past dueling leaders Whitley and Ordination (IRE) inside the eighth pole and went on to win Friday’s $57,110 feature for 3-year-olds and up by three-quarters of a length before a “Downs After Dark” crowd of 15,583 at Churchill Downs.
The 15,583 attendance mark represented a 191 percent increase compared to the 5,363 on hand for an afternoon program on the same day a year ago.
In giving jockey Julien Leparoux his third victory of the night, Veiled Prophet raced at the back of the pack in the field of nine in the early going of the one-mile test on the Matt Winn Turf Course as Quite a Handful and Ordination battled for the lead through fractions of :24.15, :48.50 and 1:13.42.
Turning for home, Veiled Prophet had only one horse beat as Ordination took the lead. Approaching midstretch, Whitley moved to the inside to challenge Ordination while Veiled Prophet began to split horses and then surged past the leaders to complete the mile on a course labeled “good” in 1:38.59.
Trained by Rusty Arnold, Veiled Prophet is a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Kingmambo. The victory was worth $34,776 and increased the winner’s earnings to $175,102 with a record of 4-2-1 in 22 races.
Veiled Prophet returned $12.20, $5.80 and $3.80. Whitley, also trained by Arnold and ridden by Miguel Mena, finished second and returned $6.80 and $3.60 while Ordination finished a nose back in third under Robby Albarado and paid $3 to show.
Racing resumes Saturday afternoon with a 10-race program beginning at 12:40 p.m. (all times Eastern). Highlighting the card will be the 20th running of the $175,000-added Mrs. Revere (GII) for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course. Post time for the Mrs. Revere, which will go as the day’s ninth race, is 4:37 p.m. There’s a six-day carryover in the Pick 6 of $62,930, which will covers races 5-10. Additionally, there’s a Super Hi-5 carryover of $7,002 for the final race of the day.
