Super Derby tops 14 stakes at Louisiana Downs 84-day meet
The Super Derby on Sept. 10 will again serve as the centerpiece of the Louisiana Downs meet that opens May 7. The 84-date season in Bossier City will run through Sept. 24.
The Super Derby is part of a 14-race stakes schedule worth a total of $1.3 million. It will be run over 1 1/8 miles, and the purse remains $400,000. In a change, the Super Derby will be contested as a Grade 3 race this year after holding Grade 2 status last season, when it was won by Mobile Bay.
Louisiana Downs will showcase the Super Derby, its richest race, on a card of five stakes. The program, worth a total of $700,000, will again include a pair of one-mile turf stakes for 2-year-olds, the $75,000 Sunday Silence and the $75,000 Happy Ticket.
Louisiana Downs will group seven stakes together Aug. 6 for the annual Louisiana Cup. There will be six divisional stakes for horses bred in Louisiana, led by the $75,000 Louisiana Cup Turf Classic and the $75,000 Louisiana Cup Distaff. The program also includes the $100,000 Prelude, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds that serves as the local prep for the Super Derby. Purses for the races will total $450,000.
Louisiana Downs will race Wednesdays through Saturdays at this meet, with special Monday cards May 30, July 4, and Sept. 5.
| Date | Race | Condition | Distance | Purse |
| Sat., Aug. 6 | Prelude | 3YO | 1 1/16 miles | $100,000 |
| Sat., Aug. 6 | Louisiana Cup Juvenile | 2YO* | 6 furlongs | $50,000 |
| Sat., Aug. 6 | Louisiana Cup Juvenile Fillies | 2YO* F | 6 furlongs | $50,000 |
| Sat., Aug. 6 | Louisiana Cup Filly & Mare Sprint | F-M, 3YO & Up* | 6 furlongs | $50,000 |
| Sat., Aug. 6 | Louisiana Cup Sprint 3YO & Up* | 3YO & UP* | 6 furlongs | $50,000 |
| Sat., Aug. 6 | Louisiana Cup Turf 3YO & Up* | 3YO & UP* | 1 1/16 miles (T) | $75,000 |
| Sat., Aug. 6 | Louisiana Cup Distaff | F-M, 3YO & Up* | 1 1/16 miles (T) | $75,000 |
| Sat., Sept. 10 | Super Derby (G3) | 3YO | 1 1/8 miles | $400,000 |
| Sat., Sept. 10 | Unbridled | 3YO & UP | 1 1/16 miles (T) | $75,000 |
| Sat., Sept. 10 | River Cities | F-M, 3YO & Up | 1 1/16 miles (T) | $75,000 |
| Sat., Sept. 10 | Happy Ticket | 2YO F | 1 mile (T) | $75,000 |
| Sat., Sept. 10 | Sunday Silence | 2YO | 1 mile (T) | $75,000 |
| Sat., Sept. 24 | A.L. “Red” Erwin | 3YO** | 1 mile (T) | $75,000 |
| Sat., Sept. 24 | Elge Rasberry | 3YO** | 1 mile (T) | $75,000 |