Racing Dates

Racing takes place generally from November to mid-July with the winter thoroughbred program the highlight at Delta Downs, especially in November when the $1 million Delta Jackpot Stakes and the $400,000 Delta Princess Stakes take place for the younger horses.

About Delta Downs

Known as “America’s Favorite Nighttime Track”, Delta Downs is the premier racing circuit in Louisiana with stabling for 1,200 horses on its plush 240-acre property.

As a modern, all-encompassing resort, Delta Downs Racetrack Casino & Hotel aims to capture the spirit and charm of New Orleans with its mix of quarter horse and thoroughbred racing, live entertainment, disparate food and drink choices and off-track betting, a lot of which is housed in its comfortable enclosed grandstand.

Horseplayers come into Delta Downs from Baton Rouge and New Orleans which are a few hours away to the east and, although proud of its Louisiana heritage and roots, Delta Downs is only 10 minutes away from the Texas border along the I-10 and is in fact only an hour-and-a-half from Houston opening it up to a lot of out of state clientele.

Delta Downs History

Delta Downs started life as a Quarter Horse track after Lee Berwick decided he needed somewhere other than his farm to run such races. For the uninitiated; Quarter Horses are specifically an American breed which excels over short distances.

That was back in 1973 and once open the track hosted both Quarter Horse and Thoroughbred racing and was so successful that by the ‘90’s it was sold for $10million.

After law was passed allowing slot machines at Delta however the track was sold on again soon after, this time for a huge $100 million and, somewhat cruelly considering the owners invested more than $120 million in improvements at the site, was damaged in 2005 by Hurricane Rita.

After being closed for months after the hurricane Delta recovered and, much like at Delaware and other places these days, the new found revenue from its slots and casino games allowed the track to improve racing on the track.

The winter program as it is now has helped the careers of several high quality horses in recent times, for example 2016 Delta Jackpot Stakes winner Exaggerator which went on to win the Santa Anita Derby, the Haskell Invitational and over $3.5million in prize money.

Delta Downs Track Details

The surface at Delta Downs is an interesting one; it has a limestone base with a mixture on top of clay and sand from the nearby Sabine River which helps to give this venue a real sense of place. The track is a six furlong oval with an additional mile chute.

Delta can test the balance of a horse with its 10% incline on the turns and a quick home stretch of 660 yards long and 80 feet wide. The safety limit at the track is 10 horses.

Biggest Races

Delta Jackpot Stakes – two-year-olds, ​ 1 ¹ ⁄ ₁₆ miles (November)
Delta Princess Stakes – two-year-old fillies, 1 mile (November)

Address

2717 Delta Downs Drive, Vinton, LA 70668, USA.

Contact

Chris Warren (chriswarren@boydgaming.com)