Sellers to come out of retirement at Evangeline

Jockey Shane Sellers, who retired from riding in 2004, plans to make a comeback Thursday night at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La. He is named to ride Ide Ball in the first race, a $25,000 claiming sprint, for trainer Mark Guidry.

Sellers initially retired from riding in 2002 because of recurring pain from a knee injury he had sustained in 2000. He later resumed his career, but formally announced a second retirement in December 2004 while expressing concerns over insurance issues facing jockeys.

Sellers last rode in a race on Oct. 22, 2004. He will have his comeback mount for a noted retired jockey in Guidry. Ide Ball is 6-1 on the morning line Thursday.

"I'm healthy in both mind and spirit and am ready to do what I love," Sellers said in a release issued Saturday by Evangeline Downs. "I started my career here in Louisiana and I plan on riding here and at Louisiana Downs and the Fair Grounds when this meet ends."

Sellers, 42, won the first race of his career at Evangeline Downs in 1983. He has gone on to win more than 4,000 races, including two Breeders' Cup races, the Turf with Buck's Boy in 1998 and the Juvenile with Countess Diana in 1997. He also guided Skip Away to a victory over Cigar in the 1996 edition of the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Jon Anthony Martin, the son of top Louisiana-based agent Tony Martin, will represent Sellers.