OPELOUSAS, La. – Evangeline Downs will open its 51st season of racing Wednesday with a retooled stakes schedule, a rehabilitated turf course, and a recommitment to local horsemen. The 84-day stand will run through Aug. 27, with live racing Wednesday through Saturday nights. First post will be 5:50 p.m. Central.There will be 26 stakes worth a total of more than $2 million. That compares with 23 stakes held last year. The two biggest nights of the season will occur on Saturdays. The June 4 program will include three stakes races highlighted by the $100,000 Evangeline Mile for 3-year-olds and up at one mile on the main track. Louisiana Legends Night will take place July 2, offering eight stakes races for Louisiana-breds, including the richest event of the season, the $125,000 Louisiana Legends Classic for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles. Missing on this year’s stakes docket is the $300,000 Evangeline Downs Turf Sprint. First run in 2014 in mid-June, last season’s edition, scheduled for late May, was lost when torrential rain washed out the entire Turf Sprint program.“We just couldn’t get it to work,” said Evangeline’s director of racing, Chris Warren. “With the weather and scheduling, it just wasn’t working. We decided this year that the money would be better utilized in some smaller stakes that fit our local horsemen better.”The turf course also has a new look. Last year’s heavy rains continued into early summer, and moisture-related issues resulted in the course being unusable for much of the season. Randall Leger has been hired as the new track superintendent. Leger has supervised the turf-course improvements with consultant Bode Boudreaux and turf specialist Scott Guidry. Turf rye has been planted on the course, which has also been top-dressed with subangular sand, allowing the course to have a more solid foundation and root system. It is expected to be at three inches for the start of the racing season.“We have been really pleased with the new maintenance program,” said Warren, adding that new material has been added to the main track as well.Warren said numerous improvements have been made to the backside. “There are 24 new walking machines,” he said. “We also repaired several of the tack rooms, and we have two brand-new starting gates.”Daily purses will average $160,000, which is close to last year’s level, according to Warren. Open maiden special weight races will be worth $22,000, while entry-level allowances will carry $24,000 purses.Karl Broberg is back to defend his training title against perennial powerhouses Keith Bourgeois and Sam Breaux. The veteran Gerard Melancon, fresh off another riding title at the recently completed Delta Downs meeting, will head up a deep riding colony along with Colby Hernandez, Diego Saenz, and Ashley Broussard.