Delta Downs cancels Saturday card, moves night races to daytime
Delta Downs in Vinton, La., has called off Saturday night’s races and will have afternoon posts all next week, according to representatives of the track.
Delta canceled after the third race Friday, it’s first card of night racing since February 2020 after the track’s lighting system was taken out by Hurricane Laura.
Following the third race, 19 of 21 jockeys voted not to ride the remainder of the card due to shadows from the lighting system, said Gerard Melancon, a longtime leading rider in Louisiana. The vote was taken by the management of Delta, Melancon said. The rider said he’s been in contact with a member of the Louisiana Racing Commission, which is expected to have an emergency meeting next week to consider day racing for the remainder of the meet at Delta.
There was a one-horse spill in the third race Friday, when front-runner It’s a Deal went down in the stretch. He threw jockey Jorge Guzman, who walked off from the incident but sustained a concussion, said Melancon, who has been in contact with the rider’s family. It’s a Deal was right back up after the spill.
Delta’s twitter account reported the cancellation Friday night was due to “technical difficulties,” and on Saturday morning track announcer Don Stevens tweeted there would be day racing next Wednesday through Saturday.
Delta’s schedule this meet calls for day posts on Wednesdays and Thursdays and night racing on Fridays and Saturdays. The track last season raced during the daytime for the entirety of its meet due to the need to construct a new lighting system. Last meet, racing was Monday through Thursday.
Delta opened its season Wednesday, and also raced without incident Thursday, with first post for those cards 12:55 p.m. Central. First post Friday night was 5:55 p.m. Central.
Delta had stakes scheduled for Friday and Saturday night, including the $100,000 Gold Cup that drew Grade 1 winner No Parole.
The tweet from Stevens said first post next week would be 12:55 p.m. for each of the cards. It also stated more information would be sent out when available. Delta is scheduled to race through March 5.