Louisiana Downs racing schedule for 2026
The year at Louisiana Downs splits into two meets. Quarter horses return in January on a short weekday program, racing Mondays and Tuesdays at first and switching to Fridays and Saturdays in March. These are sprints of a quarter mile or less, with a 1:35 p.m. first post in the early weeks of the 2026 meet.
The thoroughbred season opened on Saturday, May 2, 2026, Kentucky Derby Day, with a viewing party for the Louisville race, and ran through September 30. The regular first post was 4:05 p.m., with earlier starts on Opening Day, Memorial Day, Louisiana Cup Day and Super Derby Day. Fireworks followed the races on Friday, July 3.
| Meet | 2026 dates | Race days |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter horse | January to March | Mon–Tue, then Fri–Sat |
| Thoroughbred | May 2 to September 30 | Two days a week plus holiday cards |
| Simulcast | Year-round | Daily |
Labor Day Monday, September 7, brought the Wiener Dog Charity Races, a crowd favorite that has nothing to do with the betting menu. For the full calendar across the state, the Louisiana racinos overview lists every track’s dates, and the national horse racing schedule shows which meets overlap with the Bossier City racing schedule.
The Super Derby
First run in September 1980, the Super Derby was once one of the richest races for three-year-olds in the country. Alysheba, Sunday Silence and Tiznow all appear on its winners list. The race lost its standing over the following decades, spent two years on the turf, then went on hiatus from 2020 to 2022 before returning in 2023.
Today it is run at 1 1/8 miles. The 44th Super Derby in September 2026 offered $250,000 and was televised on FS2. Quarry took it under Harry Hernandez, a Canadian rider making his first appearance at the track. Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel and 2025 leading rider Joel Domingez were among the riders named for the 2026 meet.
Inside the Louisiana Downs casino
Louisiana allows slot machines at four racetracks but no table games, so the Louisiana Downs casino is a slots floor of more than 800 machines with no blackjack or craps pits. Rubico described a 12,000-square-foot casino at the 2021 takeover. Monthly results are public: in July 2026 the floor counted 45,510 admissions over 31 gaming days.
The same report put July adjusted gross revenue at $2,832,341, the smallest of the four Louisiana track casinos and far behind Delta Downs near Lake Charles. Eighteen percent of that money goes to purses and breeder groups before state tax. Setting a spending limit before playing is a sensible habit.
An in-person sportsbook is part of the property, and simulcast wagering runs year-round on races from other tracks. Players who have never bet into pari-mutuel pools, where the odds move until the gates open, can read the guide to pari-mutuel betting before placing a win, exacta or pick-four ticket at the windows or self-service terminals in the grandstand.
Ownership changes since Harrah’s
Shopping center developer Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. built the track and opened it in 1974, his third racetrack after Thistledown in Ohio and Remington Park in Oklahoma. Crowds were large in the early years: in 1983 about 1.3 million fans wagered $224 million over a 125-day season, at a time when the track had no casino at all.
Harrah’s Entertainment bought the track in 2002 and opened the slots in May 2003 as Harrah’s Louisiana Downs. In 2017 the real estate passed to VICI Properties in a spin-off and was leased back to Caesars. Rubico Acquisition Corp. agreed in 2020 to pay $22 million, and the sale closed on November 1, 2021.
Dining, hotel and getting there
Food on the grounds centers on Nicky’s Mexican Restaurant at 7960 East Texas Street, known locally for its scratch-made menu and a 5 to 8 p.m. happy hour. Next door, SpringHill Suites at Louisiana Downs offers 150 suites with breakfast included and a fitness center, a short walk from the track’s grandstand and parking lots.
The track sits on U.S. 80, East Texas Street, on the eastern edge of Bossier City, with Interstate 20 close by for drivers coming from Dallas or Monroe. Shreveport Regional Airport is across the river. For other track casinos, Evangeline Downs in Opelousas is about three hours south, and the national racinos near me map covers Arkansas and Texas.