Evangeline Turf Sprint moved to May

The $300,000 Evangeline Downs Turf Sprint will be run about three weeks earlier next year, on May 30. The five-furlong grass race for 3-year-olds and up was inaugurated this year and was run at the Opelousas, La., track June 21. The earlier date was chosen in part because of its spacing from the Grade 3 Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs the first weekend in May, said Chris Warren, director of racing operations for Evangeline.

“We’ll attract some of those horses, hopefully,” said Warren.

Evangeline supported its Turf Sprint, the richest race of the Thoroughbred meet that opens in April, with a handful of stakes on the same program this year, and Warren said that is again the plan for 2015.

Fundraiser for jockeys

A fundraiser for injured Quarter Horse jockeys Alfonso Lujan and Eddie Cox is being held Saturday at Evangeline Downs through the track’s chaplaincy program. There will be plate luncheons for $4 starting at 10 a.m. Central, while a silent auction and raffle will help the riders with their financial needs.

Cox has been seriously injured in two separate incidents this year, while Lujan broke five ribs and punctured a lung in a spill at Evangeline on Oct. 22, according to Martha Claussen, who is helping promote the fundraiser. She said Lujan remains sidelined at home in Elgin, Texas.

Evangeline Downs closes its meet Saturday night with a number of stakes for Quarter Horses.