With Super Derby back on dirt, Louisiana Downs opens 2018 meeting

The Super Derby is back on dirt.

That’s the most significant change to the Louisiana Downs meet that opens on Saturday. The Bossier City, La., track will run 84 dates through Sept. 26.

The Super Derby is the richest race of the meet, and after a one-year turf experiment it’s back on the main track and its Grade 3 status has been reinstated by the American Graded Stakes Committee. The race also will be run a week earlier than last year, on Sept. 2, and it has been moved from a Saturday card to a Sunday.

“We moved Super Derby Day to Labor Day weekend,” said Trent McIntosh, assistant general manager of Louisiana Downs. “It was very intentional. On that Sunday there’s not a lot going on the in the racing world. I think we’ll be well suited on that day.”

The Super Derby purse has been boosted to $300,000 from last year’s $200,000. The distance of the race will be 1 1/16 miles, the same as last year but shorter than recent dirt runnings of 1 1/8 miles. The local prep, the $60,000 Prelude, is back on dirt, too, and it will be part of an Aug. 4 card that includes six stakes making up the Louisiana Cup.

The Super Derby will be showcased on a card of seven stakes, with those races worth a total of $660,000.

Purses at Louisiana Downs are projected to average $100,000 a program, according to McIntosh. The track will run seven races a day most cards, but there are eight scheduled for the opener Saturday and eight will be the norm on Mondays.

The track will race Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. First post is 3:15 p.m. Central.

Trainers expected to maintain divisions at the track include Joey Foster, winner of last year’s title, and Karl Broberg, H.B. Johnson, Scott Gelner, Danny Pish, and Al Stall, Jr.

“We’ve got almost 1,100 horses on the grounds at this point,” McIntosh said Wednesday. “That’s about 100 more than we had at this time last year. Horses are still funneling in and are expected.”

The riding colony includes last year’s title winner, Gerardo Mora.