By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Sports
Raised on the south side of Chicago, Kevin Preston often found himself tagging along with his parents, aunt, and uncle, for a night out.
Not to dinner. Not to the movies.
To the horse races.
“I remember early on, my dad asking me which color horse would win,” Preston said. “Or, he would read the names and let me pick, and he would bet.”
Years later, he’s a 51-year-old married father of two daughters, and he still goes to the track.
But now, he owns the track.
Preston, President of Rubico Acquisition Group, bought Louisiana Downs (both the track and adjoining casino) earlier this year from Caesars Entertainment.
“It’s surreal to be able to operate (a track) and truly work toward making a difference, and bringing something back,” Preston said.
His plans to bring Louisiana Downs “back” recently left the starting gate — and this race isn’t a sprint. During years of previous casino ownership, Louisiana Downs was something of an afterthought. The quality of racing decreased greatly, the property showed its 47 (almost 48) years, and fell into disrepair.
So why would Preston, who recently sold his only other property — Magnolia Bluffs Casino in Natchez, Miss. — pay $22 million for a Bossier City casino and race track, with a track that was arguably on life support?
“I knew that if we could put something together — put our touch on this — and add the things we do from a construction, development, and training aspect, that we could have something special. I knew Caesars hadn’t paid attention to it for a long time, and it just needed that leadership, guidance, and capital to get this iconic track back to life.”
The first race at Louisiana Downs was in 1974. Attracting locals and out-of-towners, the track enjoyed tremendous success through the 1980s. It was a “sure bet” that weekend crowds would top 15,000 people. The Super Derby — a Grade I stakes race with purses as high as $1 million — was nationally recognized, nationally televised, and brought in the sports’ best horses, jockeys and trainers.
But the economic landscape changed, and the Downs was lapped by the field. Now, Preston has to
re-introduce the track to an area which has — in large part — forgotten about the massive structure on Highway 80 East heading toward Haughton.
“We may not be able to get (the track) back to its heyday in the 80’s, but we sure want to give it a shot.”
Preston’s “shot” is centered around family entertainment.
“I feel like the racing side of it is a little bit of the older generation,” Preston said. “We’ve got to do things to get the younger generation excited about the racing and the horses and their health and safety. We’re trying to create more of a family atmosphere, where you don’t have to spend a lot of money to come out and watch the horses and get that special family time.”
Even though Preston, who lives in Kentucky, has been the track’s owner for only a few months, he has already won over some power people in the racing industry.
“(Kevin) Preston is a casino guy, but he is very, very interested in the horses,” said Mike McHalffey, a member of the Louisiana State Racing Commission. “He’s not corporate. He’s an individual. The difference between Louisiana racetracks and Oaklawn Park (in Hot Springs, Arkansas) is it’s family-owned, not corporately owned. Louisiana Downs was corporately owned. All the racetracks in the state were corporately owned. We’re not corporately owned anymore. We’re individually owned. To me, that’s huge.”
Preston plans on bringing two, maybe three new restaurants to the property. One of those will offer an upper-end dining experience.
But perhaps highest on his to-do list is to raise the amount of purse money offered to owners. The more money owners can win, the more quality horses they will send to the track.
And the Super Derby, which hasn’t been run since 2019, will return Sept. 10.
“We wanted to make sure people knew that we were serious, and that’s why we wanted to bring back the Super Derby,” Preston said. “We want to make sure it’s on people’s minds for years to come.”
And if Louisiana Downs is on people’s minds for years to come, Preston will have found the winner’s circle.
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