Delta Downs Racetrack, Casino and Hotel is an American

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

and

quarter horse The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of a quarter mile or less; some have been clocked at ...

racetrack in Calcasieu Parish, near

Vinton, Louisiana Vinton is a town in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 3,400 in 2020. It is part of the Lake Charles metropolitan statistical area. History The Old Spanish Trail, which was neither old nor Spanish, wandered north and ...

in the southwest portion of the state. The facility is owned by Boyd Gaming.

History

The track opened in September 1973, under the direction of Lee Berwick. Berwick was primarily looking for a recognized facility to run Quarter Horses, having earlier held races on his farm in St. Joseph, Louisiana. Delta Downs in Vinton would hold both Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred race meetings, some years in a mixed format. In the 1990s, the track was bought by developer Shawn Scott for $10 million. Shortly thereafter, it was sold for over $100 million to Boyd Gaming after a law was passed allowing for slot machines at Delta Downs. After the purchase, Boyd Gaming made over $120 million in capital improvements. The casino, hotel and track were badly damaged by

Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Gulf of Mexico and the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. Part of the record-breaking 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, which included three of the top ten ...

in 2005; the casino and hotel were partially opened two months later. The track was closed for about six months after the hurricane. Fueled by revenue from the slots casino, the quality of racing at Delta Downs has improved. The winter Thoroughbred meeting has produced several stakes-quality horses in recent years. On January 11, 1990, jockey Sylvester Carmouche rode a 5-year-old named Landing Officer through a thick fog to a twenty-four length win. Landing Officer had gone off at 23-1 odds. After the race it was determined that Carmouche had hid Landing Officer in the fog as the other eight horses in the race circled the track and the jockey was subsequently charged with felony theft by fraud. Carmouche was convicted of the charges on March 14, 1990 and he was subsequently banned for ten years from state tracks by the Louisiana Racing Commission but the ban lasted just eight years. Aaron Kuriloff writing for

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

put Sylvester Carmouche 11th of the top 25 cheats, frauds and scams perpetrated in sports around the globe.

Track

The track is a oval. There is a Quarter-Horse chute, in addition to a and Thoroughbred chutes. The track surface is a mixture of sand (from the Sabine River) and clay, with a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

base. The track has stabling for 1,200 horses. The Delta Downs grounds features horse pastures which are visible from the entrance. Draft and

miniature horse A miniature horse is a breed or type of horse characterised by its small size. Usually it has been bred to display in miniature the physical characteristics of a full-sized horse, but to be little over in height, or even less. Although such hor ...

s and thoroughbreds are on display. The Quarter Horse Red River Rebel, owned by Malcom Chiasson, holds the track record as of 2011; he is also the leading money-winning quarter horse in Louisiana.Delta Downs racing website
Retrieved 2011-06-02.

Casino

The casino has more than 1,600 slot machines; the

racino A racino is a combined race track and casino. In some cases, the gambling is limited to slot machines, but many locations are beginning to include table games such as blackjack, poker, and roulette. In 2003, Joe Bob Briggs described the econ ...

has only slots, due to restrictions in state law. The hotel has 370 rooms, and 50 suites.

Racing season

The track usually holds races from November to mid-July, with the Thoroughbred meet beginning in November and the Quarter Horse meet commencing in April. Delta Downs hosts the Grade III, $1,000,000 Delta Jackpot Stakes for 2-year-olds, the Grade III, $500,000 Delta Princess Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, the Restricted Grade I Lee Burwick Futurity, and the Grade II Firecracker Futurity.

References

{{Boyd Gaming Boyd Gaming Tourist attractions in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana Casinos in Louisiana Sports venues in Lake Charles, Louisiana Sports venues in Louisiana Buildings and structures in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana Casino hotels 1973 establishments in Louisiana Sports venues completed in 1973