By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Sports

A 76-day Louisiana Downs thoroughbred meet, consisting mostly of Sunday-Wednesday racing, will be proposed Sunday by the Racing Days Committee of the Louisiana State Racing Commission (LSRC).

If adopted, the Downs’ schedule would start May 19 and end September 24. Racing would begin some three weeks later than this year, and not tie in opening day to the Kentucky Derby (May 4), which it has done in years past, including this year. Racing would end 12 days later than in 2023.

The 76-day meet would be 15 days more than this year’s meet. There would be seven days which overlap with racing at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas. The committee has been focused on limiting the number of times state tracks race on the same day.

The committee will also recommend that there be a minimum of 8-9 races each day.

The meeting is scheduled one day after a meeting of the Infrastructure Compliance Committee. Each of the state’s four tracks are expected to give progress reports and projected timelines on infrastructure plans previously approved by the LSRC.

Both meetings will take place at Evangeline Downs.

Contact Tony at SBJTonyT@gmail.com

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