Delta Downs

A new lighting system at Delta Downs that was only operational for three races on the first night of the season back in October and has been repeatedly tweaked since then might not end up being deemed safe or usable for racing by the time the current Thoroughbred meet ends Mar. 5. Ironically, after more than three months of debate over alleged shadows and perceived inconsistencies with how the patterns fall on the racing surface, the lighting installer and a consulting firm retained by Delta are now trying to rectify...

The character Leo Brock in the movie "Jockey" has been through a lot, the years of riding, reducing and accidents leaving him worn down. But Leo's spirit remains in tact and he pushes on, always hoping for a better tomorrow. Logan Cormier was a natural to play the role. He, too, is a survivor. The last thing on Cormier's mind when he showed up on opening day for the 2020 meet at Turf Paradise was that he would be cast in a movie. He was coming off a year in...

Strenuous safety-related objections from Delta Downs jockeys about the allegedly inconsistent lighting from a new system that has been installed and tweaked over the course of several months kept the Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) from approving a return to night racing when regulators met for an emergency session to address that one item Monday morning. Mindy Coleman, an attorney representing The Jockeys' Guild, told commissioners on the Dec. 13 Zoom call that while the Delta-based riders recognize and appreciate the efforts track management has made to try to improve...

A two-phase fix to the allegedly unsafe new lighting system at Delta Downs is underway that could allow the Louisiana track to switch back from afternoon programs to traditional weekend night cards by Nov. 12. The recently installed light-emitting diode (LED) system, which was necessitated by the old lights getting wrecked by a hurricane in August 2020, was only operational for three races on the first night program of the season Oct. 15 before a horse fell at the top of the stretch. Fueled by complaints from some jockeys and...

Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel will offer 26 stakes races during an 84-day season that runs from Oct. 13 through Mar. 5. The stakes schedule includes $2.275 million in total purse money. The richest race day of the season will happen on Saturday, Feb. 5 when Delta Downs hosts another edition of Louisiana Premier Night, which will offer a total of $895,000 in purse money for Louisiana-bred horses. The highlight of the evening will come in the $150,000 Louisiana Premier Night Championship for older horses. After Delta Downs' opening...

Jockey Charles Jantzen (C.J.) McMahon allegedly fired a gun into a stopped vehicle at a red light in his hometown of Lafayette, Louisiana, and then sped off Dec. 27, which led to his arrest on attempted murder charges in that city after a Jan. 2 traffic stop. These new details of the case were confirmed Tuesday afternoon by Wayne Griffin, a spokesperson for the Lafayette Police Department. McMahon posted an $80,000 bond Sunday that freed him from incarceration on charges that also included illegal use of a dangerous weapon and...

Take a quick glance at the opening day card at Delta Downs and it might seem like nothing has changed. The fields for Tuesday's races are full, perennial leading trainer Karl Broberg has seven entered and the feature is a $60,000 stakes for Louisiana-breds that has attracted horses from the stables of Tom Amoss and Steve Asmussen. But this will be a meet unlike any other at the track that sits just a few miles east of the Texas-Louisiana border. Delta Downs was directly in the path of Hurricane Laura,...

Delta Down's 2020-21 season Thoroughbred season, which had been set to begin Oct. 6, has been rescheduled for Nov. 24 because of the damaging storms that have rolled through the area over the past two months. Hurricane Laura, which struck the Vinton, Louisiana area Aug. 27 as a Category 4 storm with winds of nearly 150 miles per hour, caused extensive damage to the facility before Hurricane Delta struck nearly the same area as a Category 2 storm Oct. 9. The 84-day meeting will continue through Apr. 16 and feature...

Officials at Delta Downs Racetrack Casino Hotel in Vinton, Louisiana, which suffered widespread damage during Hurricane Laura Aug. 27, report that they are working towards issuing a revised schedule for its 2020-2021 racing season and that live racing could resume by the end of November. Based on the progress that has been made to date, racing officials are optimistic that horses might be able to return to the grounds to begin training in late October. Racing at Delta Downs was scheduled to take place Oct. 6, 2020 through Feb. 27,...

In the aftermath of Hurricane Laura that devastated structures at Delta Downs last week, the Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (LHBPA) made a written plea to the Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) Sept. 2 asking for an emergency order to be handed down that would mandate "immediate access to stalls to stable at both Louisiana Downs and Fair Grounds." The request for stabling involves both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, and is complicated by meets for both breeds ending and starting within the same rough time frame at Louisiana's four...

This is the fourth installment in a series highlighting racetrack photographers. Around 1960, a funeral director decided he'd had enough of the cold Chicago winters, so he uprooted his family to Phoenix to ply his trade in a warmer clime. Upon arrival, Jack Coady, Sr. learned his Illinois mortician's certification didn't match Arizona's requirements, so he set out to look for another line of work. He liked photography and caught on with the Arizona Republic newspaper. On one of his very first assignments, he was sent to shoot the races...

Tom Amoss has taken this slowly with No Parole (Violence), allowing him to progress through the restricted Louisiana-bred ranks. But it's likely on to bigger and better for the colt, who posted a third consecutive dominating victory in annexing his first two-turn test in Saturday's Louisana Premier Night Prince S. at Delta Downs. Drawn outside in a field of six, No Parole found his way to the front with a minimum of fuss and settled very kindly through an internal second quarter mile that was timed in nearly 26 seconds....