Amoss plans to send Misty Veil in Churchill allowance feature

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Race shape be damned, but trainer Tom Amoss sure would like to see Misty Veil on the lead as the feature race unfolds under the Churchill Downs lights Thursday evening.

“Her style, and her best races, are when she can make the front end,” Amoss said. “That’s going to be the game plan in a race with certainly other speed in there.”

Misty Veil, in for the optional $80,000 claiming tag for Amoss and longtime client Maggi Moss, is the 2-1 program favorite in a field of six fillies and mares in race 7, the only allowance on an eight-race twilight card that starts at 5 p.m. Eastern. The last few races all go under the lighting system that became operational in 2009.

Misty Veil will have Francisco Arrieta aboard from post 2, and even with opponents such as Smarmy (post 3, Julien Leparoux) and Jungle Juice (post 4, Rene Diaz) owning similar early-going styles, Amoss is willing to roll the dice that Misty Veil can survive an early battle and go on and win the war.

“It’s a concern, but we’re going to try that strategy anyway,” he said. “It’s kind of a race where, on the one hand, you say she looks really good in that spot, but on the other hand, the setup isn’t all that attractive. We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

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Misty Veil has finished first or second in 12 of her 19 career starts while earning nearly $300,000 in prize money, highest in this field. She’s almost always among the public wagering choices, with the notable exception of her most recent start, when the 4-year-old Tonalist filly was overmatched at 11-1 in the Summer Colony on Aug. 19 at Saratoga.

If the pace scenario leads to her undoing in this $134,000 race governed partly by a second-level allowance condition, then Microcap (post 1, James Graham) or Salute the Flag (post 5, Mitch Murrill) would be the obvious candidates to capitalize. Both have enjoyed the occasional flash of brilliance under the right circumstances, with Microcap having won twice over the local surface and Salute the Flag knocking out her first allowance condition here in June. Microcap also is in for the optional $80,000.

The listed purse includes substantial bonuses restricted to registered Kentucky-breds, added monies for which Smarmy (bred in Florida) and Jungle Juice (Ireland) are ineligible.

Chilly early-autumn weather is in the local forecast for Thursday, with sunshine bringing a daytime high of 69 ahead of an overnight low of 45.

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