Horse Racing News is the source of thoroughbred racing information with horse racing odds, betting tips, racing picks, race results, and handicapping. Latest news and articles on top horse racing contenders, jockeys, trainers, three-year-olds, race tracks, and major stakes races such as the Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes as well as the Breeders' Cup horse races.Fair Grounds Steady After Hurricane Katrina
Posted on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005
Following the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina across the Gulf Coast, Fair Grounds kicked off its 2005-2006 thoroughbred horse race meeting November 19, but not “as usual”. The 134th Fair Grounds Meet started about a week ahead of tradition, missing its home in Katrina’s hardest-hit New Orleans by some 350 miles intra-state.
The annual Fair Grounds meet typically opens on Thanksgiving day, with a stakes race named after the holiday. This time, it took place all the way at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, starting off with the $50,000 Gentilly Handicap for two-year-old state-breds.
“This shows the resiliency of horse racing in Louisiana,” spoke Sean Alfortish, president of the Louisiana Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, on opening day. “It’s going to set a mark for the future.”
The 37-day Fair Grounds meet, indeed the shortest in the track’s modern history, has a stakes schedule running through January 22, which is about half its duration before 2005. Most notably, the 134th meeting is going to miss the Louisiana Derby (G2), among the most important prep races on the road to the Triple Crown, thoroughbred horse racing’s major event.
In any case, purses are expected to reach an approximate average of $315,000 daily, the largest ever for a horse racing meet in Louisiana.
“We were worried that there wouldn’t be a Fair Grounds meet,” expressed Gerald Romero, a long-time Fair Grounds trainer. “It’s very exciting for us, and the horsemen are very grateful to Churchill Downs and Harrah’s Louisiana Downs for working together to make this happen.”
The year’s Gentilly Handicap went down in history as the very first stakes race for Fair Grounds to be held at Louisiana Downs. It was Jerry Lee’s Desert Wheat scoring a victory in the now-historic, one-mile race, carded as the ninth race on the ten-race card. Winning by four lengths as the 3-to-5 favorite, it is Desert Wheat’s second win in seven career starts.
Horse racing fans on-track wagered $241,518 on the ten-race card, with a total handle reported at $2,595,695 by Daily Racing Form.
“This is a classic case of horse racing overcoming adversity as it has in the past, such as economic depression, recession, and stock market crashes,” noted Alfortish.
"Fair Grounds Steady After Hurricane Katrina" was posted on Wednesday, November 23rd, 2005 at 5:16 pm and is filed under Race Tracks News, Stakes Races, Triple Crown, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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