A horrific spill in the 9th and final race at Louisiana Downs on August 23rd has left a couple of riders out of action for several weeks.
The incident occurred near the far turn when Haran took a bad step and broke down under Pat Valenzuela. He was racing on the pace in the maiden turf route, and it set off a chain reaction as Get The Prize (Francisco Torres) fell over the stricken horse. Brazos Cat (Lonnie Meche), Invisible Force ( E J Perrodin), and Heat Pump (Rico Flores) also went down.
Haran had to be …read more

It was a strange day at Louisiana Downs on May 23rd.
On and off showers forced the 7th race off the turf, and Say The Word was seemingly on his way to victory when he jumped starting gate tracks and dumped Patrick Valenzuela in midstretch.
In the finale, Slambam Sammy veered in at the start and dropped Lonnie Meche. He jumped the rail and ran loose on the turf course.

There was some quality racing between the oddities, and trainer Pat Mouton saddled four consecutive winners (races 3-6). Veteran pilot E. J. Perrodin was the rider of choice for the first three, …read more