Delta Downs meet gets started with mix of day and night racing
Delta Downs in Vinton, La., returns to its traditional spot on the calendar Wednesday, a year after damage from Hurricane Laura forced the track to delay the start of its season for approximately six weeks. The 84-date meet will run through March 5.
Delta will race on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule. Delta raced Monday through Thursday from Nov. 27 to April 16.
Among other damage, Hurricane Laura took out the toteboard and the track’s lighting system in August 2020, forcing Delta to conduct daytime racing. The track has since installed new lights, and the system went through a test run last week, said Chris Warren, director of racing for Boyd Gaming sister tracks Delta Downs and Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La.
In a break from tradition, Delta will race during the daytime on Wednesdays and Thursdays this meet, with first post of 12:55 p.m. Central.
“We did so well last year during the day,” Warren said.
Delta will then shift to its traditional night racing for Fridays and Saturdays, with a first post of 5:55 p.m Central.
“Friday will be our first night card since February of 2020,” Warren said.
Delta’s stakes schedule is worth $2.2 million, and some of the races that were not held last year due to the schedule change are back on the calendar. Purses for overnight races are projected to average approximately $200,000, Warren said.
The track has seen an uptick in stall applications for the new meet. Warren said there were requests for 3,000 stalls. Delta can house 1,260 horses. Entries for the opener reflected the interest in the meet, with Wednesday’s nine-race card drawing 92 horses, including eight also-eligibles.
The featured eighth race drew multiple stakes winners Ima Discreet Lady and Shes Our Fastest. They meet in a five-furlong allowance for fillies and mares worth $42,000. Tim Thornton, who has won the last three riding titles at Delta, has the mount on Ima Discreet Lady for trainer Karl Broberg.
Broberg has won the last 10 training titles at Delta. End Zone Athletics, a stable he owns with Matt Johanson, has captured the past six owner titles.
The stakes schedule opens Friday night with the $100,000 Magnolia.
Grade 1 winner No Parole is entered in Saturday night’s $100,000 Gold Cup for Louisiana-breds. The seven-furlong race will be run around two turns. No Parole won a stakes at a mile at Delta in 2020, and in February captured the track’s Louisiana Premier Sprint with a Beyer Speed Figure of 100.
Other highlights of the stakes schedule include the $100,000 Delta Mile for 3-year-olds and up on Nov. 13 and the Louisiana Premier Night card of Louisiana-bred stakes on Feb. 5. Premier Night is led by the $150,000 Championship.
As the meet opens, masks are required inside the grandstand as part of protocols in Louisiana.