Evangeline Downs

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...

Any worries that the first day under which horses had to be registered with the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority in order to compete would create chaos were squelched early on in the day Saturday when a number of tracks reported that not a single horse had to be withdrawn from a race due to the new rules. The TDN sent out survey questions to a number of racing officials Saturday to determine how many, if any, horses had to be scratched because either the horses or their owners...

The Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) affirmed lifetime bans for two sibling jockeys from the Patin family on Tuesday related to the brothers' criminal convictions for possessing illegal horse-shocking devices in races at Evangeline Downs in 2015. The hearings concluded in bizarre fashion when Joseph Patin Jr., 58, apparently slipped out of the meeting room without telling anyone after first hearing that his younger brother, Billy Patin, 53, wasn't going to be allowed to work as an exercise rider despite Billy previously agreeing to a lifetime ban of his license...

Louisiana's Evangeline Downs wrapped up its 84-night meet Saturday with Diego Saenz taking home the leading jockey title. Saenz won 116 races at the meet from 403 mounts (29%) for earnings of $1,872,243. Eduardo Ramirez, a former assistant to Karl Broberg, beat his former employer for the training title with 44 wins at the meet, good for 31% and earnings of $541,682. Jimmy Johnson's Red Rose Racing won the owner's race with 30 visits to the winner's circle (34%). Final earnings for the stable were $300,307. Evangeline Downs kicks off...

Rob Tuel has been named the full-time track announcer at Evangeline Downs, officials at the track announced Wednesday. Tuel succeeds Michael Chamberlain, who spent six years behind the mic at the Opelousas, Louisiana, track. Tuel's racecalling career began in 2004 at Eureka Downs in Kansas, describing both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse action. He has also called races in his home state of Nebraska at FairPlay Park, Lincoln Race Course and Atokad Park. "I am honored and thrilled to be selected as the new track announcer at Evangeline Downs," said Tuel....

A temporary restraining order issued Sep. 4 has blocked a Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) mandate from taking effect that seeks to force the Fair Grounds to open its backstretch stabling to as many as 500 Thoroughbreds displaced by Hurricane Laura in the last week of August. An Orleans Parish Civil District Court judge is now expected to rule on the injunction after a Sep. 11 hearing. The news site Crescent City Sports first reported on the 57-page request for injunction filed by attorneys for the Fair Grounds, which is...