Evangeline Downs

Elio Barrera captured the first riding title of his young career and Juan Larrosa fended off a number of challengers in a tightly contested trainer's race at the Evangeline Downs Thoroughbred meet which concluded Saturday. Michele Rodriguez's Elite Thoroughbred Racing repeated as the meet's leading owner. Barrera, a 22-year-old from Guatemala in his second full season of riding, finished the season with 80 wins from 420 mounts at the meet which opened Apr. 5. He was one of five riders to eclipse the million-dollar mark in purse earnings, topping the...

Louisiana Jess (Vekoma) ran to the odds and picked up not only his first stakes win but also became Vekoma's first black-type winner Saturday night at Evangeline Downs. One of five runners to come into this state-bred restricted D. S. Shine Young Futurity off a victory--his being June 14 at Churchill Downs in an auction price-restricted maiden special--the Bret Calhoun-trainee was the heavy 1-5 favorite by the time the gates opened and he did not disappoint his backers. Pressing the issue and three wide around the turn as Big Rasee...

In 15 starts, My Lil Dude won two races, hit the board six times, and earned $57,620, competing in Louisiana. Drive for Fun, a son of Distorted Humor, was more successful, winning three times and earning just under $200,000. But that wasn't enough to save either of them from being shipped from Evangeline Downs in May and ending up in a kill pen, the last step before crossing over the border to Mexico to be slaughtered. That's the fate of 20,000 American horses every year, an unknowable number of them...

Just days after announcing plans to loosen drug restrictions, the Louisiana State Racing Commission will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday, June 4 to discuss "Corrupt and Prohibited Practices". In a notice sent late Monday, the LSRC noted the following items as topics of discussion: Discussion of Clenbuterol Discussion of Depo-Medrol Safeguards will be in the place during transition time for going back to increased withdrawal periods. The state of Louisiana, which does not fall under HISA's control, passed a set of emergency rules set to go into effect June 8...

It was back in 2006 and Brian Hernandez, Jr. was mired in 12th place in the jockey standings at Churchill Downs with 14 wins. It wasn't that he had been a failure. He won an Eclipse Award in 2004 as the nation's top apprentice, winning 243 races that year. And before moving to the Kentucky circuit in 2006, he was among the top riders at Evangeline Downs and Delta Downs in his native Louisiana. It's just that Hernandez had larger goals and he was starting to worry they would never...

Races at Evangeline Downs and Horseshoe Indianapolis both went off without all horses being loaded into the starting gate on Wednesday. The fourth race at Evangeline Apr. 17, a mile route for $4,000 claimers, was declared a "no contest" by the stewards because multiple horses were involved. The $54,453 in mutuels for the race had to either be refunded or paid out as part of "all" combinations for that leg in multi-race exotics. Several hours earlier, the sixth race at Indy, a 5 1/2-furlong sprint for Indiana-bred maiden special weights,...

The Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association will have a nearly $6,000,000 stakes schedule this year the LTBA announced Tuesday. Offered over 67 stakes races, of which 33 will offer a purse of over $100,000, the purses are part of a continuing program to support accredited Louisiana-breds along with incentives for breeders and stallion owners. "We are proud to offer a dynamic stakes program that provides a year-round schedule for Accredited Louisiana breds," said LTBA secretary-treasurer Roger Heitzmann III. "Our owners and trainers have found this to be a tremendous benefit, and...

On the surface, trainer Ron Faucheux could not have been doing any better. He came out of the Fair Grounds meet on Mar. 26 with his third straight training title at the New Orleans track, his 42 winners five more than Bret Calhoun and Brad Cox. He had a career best 81 winners in 2022 and his stable earned $2,066,757. But when Louisiana racing moved to Evangeline Downs last week, Faucheux was conspicuously absent from the entries. The latest horsemen to say it has simply become too difficult for a...

The 2023 Thoroughbred season opens at Evangeline Downs on Friday, Apr. 7. The meet will consist of 61 racing days running through Aug. 12. First post each night will be at the new time of 5:30pm Central. The racing schedule will feature racing on Wednesday through Saturday for the first five full weeks of the meet. Beginning the week of May 18, racing will switch to a Thursday through Saturday schedule. The 2023 season will feature an expanded stakes schedule, starting with a pair of stakes on opening night. The...

The 2023 Thoroughbred season at Evangeline Downs kicks off on Friday, Apr. 7 with an amended 61-day season that closes on Aug. 12. Racing will be conducted on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule for the first five full weeks of the meet and beginning May 18, racing will switch to Thursdays through Saturdays. First post each night will be at 5:30 p.m, CDT. Stakes action begins on opening night with the $60,000 Acadiana S. for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs and the $60,000 Spotted Horse S. for 4-year-old and up fillies and...

As a young boy, I spent summers mucking out stalls, painting fences, and helping out on my great-uncle's farm. Early in the mornings, his grandson and I could hear him tapping on the door, telling us to wake up and get moving in Cajun French. "Levez, levez!" We'd jump out of bed and ride down to the track to watch the jockeys breeze the horses as the sun was coming up. Those are memories I fear the next generation might never experience as we battle the Horseracing Integrity and Safety...

Jockey Gerard Melancon, a mainstay atop the riding standings in his home state of Louisiana, was arrested Aug. 26 on a charge related to the alleged possession of an electrical shocking device after Evangeline Downs stewards reported an "incident" to state police. Ray Paulick of Paulick Report had the scoop in a Tuesday story. He cited confirmations of the "unnatural stimulation of horses" arrest from the St. Landry Parish sheriff's office, the clerk of the parish court, and the Louisiana State Police. But details were scant because of an "ongoing...