Fall Meet 'Downs After Dark' program draws 15,583

Louise I. and G. Watts Humphrey Jr. Revocable Trust-2008's VEILED PROPHET

(Kingmambo) swept past dueling leaders Whitley (Menifee) and Ordination (Ire)

(Fantastic Light) inside the eighth-pole and went on to win Friday night's

$57,110 allowance/optional claiming feature for three-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.

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

(Mutakddim) and Ordination battled for the lead through fractions of :24, :48

2/5 and 1:13 2/5.

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 eight furlongs on the good course in 1:38 2/5.

Trained by Rusty Arnold, Veiled Prophet gave jockey Julien Leparoux his third

victory of the night following back-to-back scores in the 6TH and 7TH races. The

five-year-old gelding added the $34,776 winner's share to his earnings and now

boasts a 22-4-2-1, $175,102, career record.

Whitley, also trained by Arnold and ridden by Miguel Mena, finished second, a

nose in front of Ordination in third.

A couple of two-year-old maiden breakers offered glimpses of being possible

future stars during Friday night's program

G. Watts Humphrey Jr.'s SHADOW WARRIOR (A.P. Indy), yet another Arnold pupil,

won the 5TH race by three lengths while covering the one-turn mile in 1:37 2/5

for. Two races later, Magdalena Racing's CASPER'S TOUCH (Touch Gold) scored by 2

1/4 lengths in 1:37 1/5.

"He (Shadow Warrior) ran green the first time he ran and this time, he put

himself in the race," assistant trainer Jack Bohannan said. "Last night was the

first time he had been on dirt to train or run and that was a concern."

Shadow Warrior had run fourth in his debut at Keeneland on October 21 by only

three parts of a length. Arnold also trained Shadow Warrior's dam, Victory Ride

(Seeking the Gold), who captured the 2001 Test S. (G1) and finished a neck

second in that same year's Acorn S. (G1), as well as his Grade 2-placed

half-sister Magical Ride (Storm Cat). Shadow Warrior will likely head to Florida

with Arnold's main string for the winter.

Casper's Touch was coming off a five-month layoff to score in his third

career start. The Kenny McPeek-conditioned dark bay had debuted in April at

Keeneland on Polytrack and then ran third at Royal Ascot in June in the Chesham

S. on turf.

"He had a small chip in an ankle from the race in England," McPeek explained

the break. "It was nothing major, but we got it taken care of. He would have

been a Breeders' Cup horse if not for that."

Casper's Touch is out of Lizzy Cool (Saint Ballado), making him a

half-brother to this year's Rumson S. winner and Matt Winn S. runner-up Cool

Bullet (Red Bullet).

"He's a nice colt and next for him is the (January 29) Holy Bull (G3),"

McPeek said, referring to the one-mile test at Gulfstream Park.