Louisiana Downs makes multiple changes for 2015 meet

There are sweeping changes to the Louisiana Downs meet that opens Friday. From a new date for the Super Derby and a new announcer to a restructured race week and later post times, there is a fresh feel to the 84-day season in Bossier City.

The Louisiana Downs meet, which continues through Sept. 19, has long been highlighted by the Grade 2, $400,000 Super Derby. That remains a constant, but the 1 1/8-mile feature will be held a week later than usual on Sept. 12.

“Labor Day fell differently this year than in previous years, and we didn’t want to compete with the close of the summer tracks,” said Trent McIntosh, director of operations for Louisiana Downs.

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McIntosh said a particular concern was closing weekend at Saratoga.

“Our big day, we didn’t want additional competition of that magnitude,” he said.

The Super Derby will again be supported by six stakes, and with $900,000 in total purses, the seven-stakes card will be the richest program of the season. Other highlights of the $1.5 million stakes schedule include Louisiana Cup Day on Aug. 8. It features six divisional stakes for Louisiana-breds as well as the local Super Derby prep, the $100,000 Prelude.

Louisiana Downs will race Wednesdays through Saturdays at this meet in a departure from its traditional Thursday-through-Sunday race week. The move was made to gain more exposure for Louisiana Downs, said McIntosh, as the track faces less racing competition on Wednesdays.

At the same time, post for the first race has been pushed to 3:15 p.m. Central. In the past, first post had usually been 1:25 p.m.

“We had some success when we went to a 2:50 p.m. post last year, both locally and offtrack,” said McIntosh.

The later start time will be daily with the exception of Super Derby Day, when first post will be either noon or 12:30 p.m., said McIntosh.

Louisiana Downs, which does not have lights for night racing, will run seven races a day Wednesdays through Fridays and eight races on Saturdays, said McIntosh. The shorter programs suit the available horse population and enable Louisiana Downs to keep its purse-per-race figures intact. The track projects purses will average $110,000 a program. At this meet, there is less slot revenue to fuel purses, said McIntosh.

“Rather than seeing a purse reduction, we reduced our number of races to keep purses whole,” he said.

John McGarry will be the new announcer for Louisiana Downs. He replaces Jason Beem. McGarry called the recent meet at Mahoning Valley and previously was the announcer at Evangeline Downs.

There are new faces in the stable area, too, with trainers Bruno Tessore and Mike Munna on the grounds with sizable barns. They join an established roster of horsemen that includes Karl Broberg, who won last year’s training title at Louisiana Downs, as well as Joey Foster, Ron Faucheux, and Jonas Gibson.

Richard Eramia is back to defend his riding title against a colony that includes Don Simington and Chris Rosier as well as new face Luis Batista.

The first program of the meet features a pair of allowances in races 3 and 6.