Boyd Gaming Applies for Evangeline Downs Race Dates

Fifty dates for Thoroughbred racing at Evangeline Downs have been requested by track owner Boyd Gaming, the Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association announced May 15.

The Opelousas, La., racecourse was originally set to open for its Thoroughbred season April 8 and race through Aug. 29, but the track has remained closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The revised schedule submitted to the Louisiana State Racing Commission lists June 5 as the new opening date, with racing four days a week on a Wednesday-through-Saturday basis. Closing day would remain the same.

Boyd Gaming management applied for 14 days of Thoroughbred racing in June, 19 days in July, and 17 days in August at Evangeline. The company also applied for 33 dates of Quarter Horse racing at Delta Downs, its track in Vinton, La., where the meet would run June 10-Aug. 1. Delta Downs' Quarter Horse meet was originally scheduled for April 17-July 4.

"We're looking forward to getting back to training at our Louisiana racetracks," said David Strow, Boyd Gaming's vice president of corporate communications. "These have obviously been a challenging couple of months for everyone, and we're looking forward to getting back to racing and getting things going again at out Louisiana properties. Hopefully soon, we'll have more information to share about restarting operations at the casinos as well."

May 16 marked the first day horses stabled outside Evangeline Downs and Delta Downs were welcomed back through the stable gates at the two tracks. Since mid-March, around the time Boyd Gaming's casinos at Evangeline and Delta closed because of the coronavirus, no new horses were allowed to enter the racetracks. The horses already stabled there were allowed to remain in place after Boyd Gaming reversed course after originally telling horsemen March 16 they had 48 hours to vacate the premises. Horses resumed training April 13 for the first time since the lockdown after Louisiana District Court judge Sharon Wilson on April 9 dissolved a temporary restraining order obtained by Boyd Gaming that resulted in no racehorse training.

"We've had some positive steps in the last month," said Benard Chatters, the president of the Louisiana HBPA and a trainer at Evangeline Downs. "We were able to get the horses back training, and then today we were able to bring some of the horses back to the racetrack that had been locked out. The regular workout people were back, the outriders were back, and it was a really joyous and refreshing day for me.

"I said to a friend of mine earlier today, 'You don't really realize that you kind of get this sort of depression sitting in on you. Even though you're training a little bit, you're not really going anywhere.' I felt really good today, one of the best days in a while, and we're happy to keep moving forward. Just trying to stay healthy and keep the horses good."

Chatters, who was at Evangeline on Saturday morning, said people were eager to get their horses back to the racetrack, including trainers who ship their horses in for workouts on the track.

"Four came in for me today, and I saw a steady infusion of horse trailers the whole time that I was at the track this morning, and coming down the interstate there was a steady flow of horses going in both directions. There were horses that I could see going to Delta, too," he said. "Quarter Horses going one direction, it seemed, and Thoroughbreds going in the other."

Racing has not taken place in Louisiana since Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots ended its meet about a week early March 21. Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita Park, both of which had their meets halted, and Churchill Downs, which had its spring meet delayed, began spectatorless racing May 14, 15, and 16, respectively. Also on May 14, the Ohio State Racing Commission formally approved a resolution for Belterra Park Gaming & Entertainment Center and Thistledown to open their backstretches for training as early as May 16 and host spectatorless racing starting May 22. The Ohio HBPA then announced May 16 that Belterra, a Boyd Gaming-owned property in Cincinnati, would allow training to begin June 1 and kick off live racing June 4. New York was given the go-ahead that same day to begin spectatorless racing June 1.

In regard to moving forward with stabling and, hopefully, racing at its Louisiana tracks, Strow said: "Health and safety are going to be extremely important right now, so we will be implementing protocols that ensure the health and safety of everyone that's on our properties. Obviously, we need to be very careful during these times, so we will make sure that we are enforcing health and safety protocols and social distancing at our Louisiana properties."

Chatters noted the importance of ensuring the health of both racehorses and the people taking care of them.

"Hopefully, this virus situation we can get some control over because we have to be mindful of that, too," he said. "This is a serious health crisis that's going on, and I don't want to be cavalier about that in any way, shape, or form. Let's be sensible and try to do things right—take care of the horses and take care of our people, too."