Opelousas –Big fields, competitive racing, and big payoffs return to South-Central Louisiana as Evangeline Downs Racetrack & Casino begins its 47th consecutive thoroughbred racing season on Wednesday evening, April 18. Coming off another solid season in which Evangeline Downs once again ranked near the top in both average field size and average winning payoffs for an extended meet in North America, Evangeline Downs will offer a total of 84-nights of racing throughout the spring and summer that will be conducted on a four-evening-a-week schedule, Wednesday thru Saturday with the season ending on Saturday, September 8th.

Coleman Lloyd, Racing Secretary at Evangeline Downs stated “Once again not only is our backside oversubscribed, but the nearby training centers are also near capacity. The horsemen have been chomping at the bit so to speak and the first three night’s entries all featured a total of 122 horses, an average of 11.1 over the 33 races scheduled.” Lloyd added “Our solid stakes program, worth in excess of $1.7 million along with our total daily purse structure of approx. $200,000 a night, should provide plenty of incentive and opportunity for local horsemen as well as those in neighboring jurisdictions which should lead to a very exciting season.”

Highlighting the stakes program once again is Louisiana Showcase Night, a stakes-laden program featuring eight stake races worth almost $800,000 restricted to horses bred in Louisiana and the $125,000 Evangeline Mile for the handicap division. Louisiana Showcase Night will be Saturday, June 30, and the Evangeline Mile will be contested on Saturday, August 11.

Post time for live racing will be 5:40 p.m.