Hundreds Gather With ED Legends
BOBBY ARDOIN
St. Landry Now.com Editor
Some came to see Kentucky Derby winners, while others were perhaps once railbirds or two-dollar bettors when the riders at the old Evangeline Downs were much younger and saddled up inside the starting gate.
Those memories of the jockeys and others whose careers began at the original facilidty apparently remain unforgettable.
At least that nostalgia was evident for a brief two hours on Monday afternoon.
Hundreds lined up before and after the live racing posttimes, requesting autographs from the 14 riders who crossed finish lines nearly a half century ago.
Advertised by current Evangeline Downs officials in Opelousas as a Cajuns Jockey Legends signing party, the event resembled a reunion, with hugs and handshakes as the former jockeys recognized many of those who came to say hello once more.
Evangeline Downs, which first opened as a parimutuel facility 60 years ago, was initially located on the outskirts of Carencro, then a small Lafayette Parish town near where many of the match-race tracks where jockeys like Ray Sibille, Eddie Delahoussaye and Calvin Borel first began holding onto the reins.
The old Evangeline Downs grandstands, clubhouse and backside barns that Sibille and Delahoussaye fondly recall, are now unidentifiable after the track and accompanying casino along Interstate 49 were completed 25 years ago.
Fed-Ex and Amazon now occupy the former Evangeline Downs property where nearly all of the jockeys recognized on Monday guided thoroughbreds and quarter horses and triumphantly raised their riding crops, acknowledging another winners’ circle trip.
“It was great, seeing many of the guys that we rode against. Some of them aren’t here any more and some are from more of a recent time,” said Delahoussaye, a Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame inductee who works at the current Evangeline Downs.
Delahoussaye added that he was surprised at the large turnout, where the ex-jockeys sat at tables, writing their names on a track-provided posters of how they appeared when they were active riders.
The Evangeline Downs where Delahoussaye began his career once packed weekend crowds whose vehicles filled the parking lots.
“Back then (horse racing) was really the only game in town. Now you have the casinos, the Saints and other attractions. You had the farmers coming to the races and those who once attended the bush track races, where families got together and there were no problems,” said Delahoussaye.
Delahoussaye and others who made their appearances on Monday, eventually left Evangeline Downs and spent their careers at more high profile tracks.
The local jockeys from parishes near Lafayette, created a local breed of riders whose skills will probably never be replicated, said Delahoussaye.
“The tracks where we grew up riding are no longer around. Many of the jockeys competing now are Hispanics,” Delahoussaye added.
Sibillie, a Hall of Fame rider inducted in 2024, also works at the Opelousas track. He remembered the old Evangeline Downs where everything pertaining to racing “was set up just right.”
Racing was a career that began at an early age 60 years ago, said Sibille, who is from Sunset.
“I know for sure that many of us, couldn’t wait to get our licenses when we were 16. I know I wanted mine and I got it in 1969. By 1973 I left the area and began the rest of my caree,” Sibille said.
