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

August 16th Louisiana Downs Recap
Edge to early-pressing types in sprints. Routes played fair. Turf favored stalkers and closers.
Got four tops home including Hot Biscuit ($20.60) and Louisiana Dude ($11). The latter received a great ride by Francisco Torres. He dove down behind the speed from the outside post and drove to a one-length tally in the turf sprint.
Hat trick for Lonnie Meche.
Nice to see veteran gelding Zarb’s Dahar running well again. Dropped all the way down to the $5k claiming level in romping win last time, and he scurried back up to the optional claiming level for his …read more

Thursday (3-5-09) Fair Grounds recap
Both surfaces seemed to play fair.
Brian Hernandez Jr., Lonnie Meche, and Jamie Theriot each booted home a pair. Two more wins for Briggy/Asmussen.
Hallway (Briggy/Asmussen) smartly nabbed the optional claiming turf feature for Louisiana breds. Oro Tributo lunged at the start and missed the place by a 1/2 and a head. Sib to Tortuga Flats deserves another chance.
Friday (3-6-09) Fair Grounds preview
Weather: Partly cloudy. High 77.
Race 5: Spider Power (4-1) has fired in six straight and earned triple digit late pace figs in his last three local turf outings. PVal got to know him …read more