Hurricane Laura
Take a quick glance at the opening day card at Delta Downs and it might seem like nothing has changed. The fields for Tuesday's races are full, perennial leading trainer Karl Broberg has seven entered and the feature is a $60,000 stakes for Louisiana-breds that has attracted horses from the stables of Tom Amoss and Steve Asmussen. But this will be a meet unlike any other at the track that sits just a few miles east of the Texas-Louisiana border. Delta Downs was directly in the path of Hurricane Laura,...
Delta Down's 2020-21 season Thoroughbred season, which had been set to begin Oct. 6, has been rescheduled for Nov. 24 because of the damaging storms that have rolled through the area over the past two months. Hurricane Laura, which struck the Vinton, Louisiana area Aug. 27 as a Category 4 storm with winds of nearly 150 miles per hour, caused extensive damage to the facility before Hurricane Delta struck nearly the same area as a Category 2 storm Oct. 9. The 84-day meeting will continue through Apr. 16 and feature...
Officials at Delta Downs Racetrack Casino Hotel in Vinton, Louisiana, which suffered widespread damage during Hurricane Laura Aug. 27, report that they are working towards issuing a revised schedule for its 2020-2021 racing season and that live racing could resume by the end of November. Based on the progress that has been made to date, racing officials are optimistic that horses might be able to return to the grounds to begin training in late October. Racing at Delta Downs was scheduled to take place Oct. 6, 2020 through Feb. 27,...
A temporary restraining order issued Sep. 4 has blocked a Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) mandate from taking effect that seeks to force the Fair Grounds to open its backstretch stabling to as many as 500 Thoroughbreds displaced by Hurricane Laura in the last week of August. An Orleans Parish Civil District Court judge is now expected to rule on the injunction after a Sep. 11 hearing. The news site Crescent City Sports first reported on the 57-page request for injunction filed by attorneys for the Fair Grounds, which is...
In the aftermath of Hurricane Laura that devastated structures at Delta Downs last week, the Louisiana Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (LHBPA) made a written plea to the Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC) Sept. 2 asking for an emergency order to be handed down that would mandate "immediate access to stalls to stable at both Louisiana Downs and Fair Grounds." The request for stabling involves both Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses, and is complicated by meets for both breeds ending and starting within the same rough time frame at Louisiana's four...
While no horses or people suffered major injuries as a result of Hurricane Laura, the storm produced serious damage to Delta Downs in Vinton, Louisiana, leaving the facility in such bad shape that its director of racing operations Chris Warren said there was no chance the track would be able to begin its Thoroughbred meet on time. "This meet is supposed to start Oct. 6. That isn't going to happen," Warren said. "There's no way. When it will happen, I have no idea." Warren was on the scene at Delta...