Hundreds of racehorses at Delta Downs racetrack in storm damaged Calcasieu parish are displaced and Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orleans refuses to shelter the horses at their stables.
As Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate reports, Churchill Downs Inc., which owns the Fair Grounds, says they do not have the room to stable 500 horses and staff from Delta Downs, which took major damage from Hurricane Laura. About 700 horses were stabled there before the storm, 500 remained as the storm made landfall.
On Thursday, the Louisiana Racing Commission issued an emergency order to force the Fair Grounds and Louisiana Downs in Bossier City to shelter the displaced horses and trainers.
However, on Friday Churchill Downs filed a legal challenge with an Orleans Parish judge to stop the order, because the company says housing the horses and staff could pose a coronavirus risk.
“Fair Grounds has been concerned with housing horses and horsemen during hurricane season since 2012, when horsemen first refused to abide by evacuation orders (and did so again a year later),” Churchill Downs lawyers wrote, according to Nola.com. “In fact, horses were abandoned at the Delta Downs property … during Hurricane Laura, despite mandatory evacuation orders. If Hurricane Laura had hit Fair Grounds … the loss of equine and human life would likely have been catastrophic.”
A hearing filed by Churchill Downs to temporarily stop the commission’s emergency order is scheduled for Friday morning.