University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 60, No. 24, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 23, 1983 Page: 4 of 6
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UNIVERSITY PRESS November 23,1983-4
Track is odds-on favorite
By RICHARD BONNIN
UP editor
Like a great white castle, the clubhouse
at Delta Downs towers above a 200-acre
racing complex. It offers Texans their
nearest opportunity to participate in the
sport of kings—horse racing.
Delta Downs is located three miles nor-
thwest of Vinton, La., on State Highway
3063, eight miles from the Texas-Louisiana
border and 30 minutes from Beaumont.
The track officially opened on Sept. 20,
1973, and was built at a cost of $3.5 million.
Comprising the facility are a six-furlong
track, a straight-away for quarterhorses,
17 bams to shelter over 600 horses, a park-
ing lot to harbor 2,100 automobiles, a train-
ing track, a paddock and a computerized
tote board that flashes the exact amount
each horse will pay once a race has begun.
Delta Downs recently began its 11th
season and currently offers a 105-day, all-
thoroughbred racing season that stretches
through April 1.
Races are held every Thursday, Friday
and Saturday at 7:05 p.m. and at 1:05 p.m.
on Sundays. Visitors to the track on race
days will most likely discover a typical
racing crowd in the throes of racing rap-
ture.
Track fans excitedly work themselves
into a pre-race frenzy. Grasping their bet-
ting stubs, they jockey for the best possible
vantage points. Visitors can differentiate
between the poorest railbirds and the fat
cat clubhouse habitues by their betting
habits; but once the race begins, the heart-
beats and passions are as one.
As the horses bolt out of the starting
gate, the bettors cheer their horse onward.
The horsqs rage, their hooves thundering
as the jockeys yell and crack their whips.
When the last horse crosses the finish line,
lucky fans who have made their money
multiply rush to the cashier’s window.
Others, ever hopeful, dig deep in their
pockets for reserve cash in search of the
big win.
The track itself is a three-quarter mile
oval, with a 550-yard straight-away and a
five-eighths mile chute.
Lined up along the backstretch at Delta
Downs are 17 metal-clad bams. They are
sturdily built and high enough above the
ground to compensate for the unpredic-
table Sabine area weather. On two occa-
sions, however, fire—a horse owner’s
nightmare—has gutted the bam area.
On Feb. 17,1975, a $45,000 bam that hous-
ed 60 horses and living quarters for 20 peo-
ple was destroyed by a fire that in-
vestigators said was started by an
overloaded fuse box. All of the people and
the horses were evacuated, unharmed.
The results of a Dec. 21,1977, blaze were
much worse. A $70,000, 60-stall bam was
destroyed, and two horses were killed
before the flames could be extinguished.
The fire started in the tack room, but the
cause was never determined. Fire in-
vestigators said arson was not suspected.
Each bam contains 10 tack rooms, which
can double as living quarters for
backstretch personnel. Feed rooms are
spaced along the outside of each bam,
while a horseman’s cafeteria on the
backstretch caters to human nutritional
needs.
The paddock is on the right, or west side,
of the clubhouse. This is where the horses
are saddled and viewed prior to a race. It
can be compared to an on-deck circle in
baseball—the place where the horses stmt
their gleaming coats and muscled thighs,
as jockeys try to make them look their best
to attract potential bettors.
Track enthusiasts can be comfortably
seated in a glass-enclosed, air-conditioned
clubhouse that accomodates 1,400 patrons.
A protected lower grandstand holds
another 2,500 fans, with seating for 800.
The entire clubhouse and grandstand
was designed at a 15-degree angle to the
track to allow racing fans a clear-cut view
of the action from start to finish. The
clubhouse provides gourmet dining,
cocktails and sandwich service. For most
racing fans in attendance, however, food
and drink do not satisfy their appetites.
Their satisfaction comes from placing
bets.
Throughout the facility, there are 80 win-
dows to service bettors. The ratio of selling
windows to cashiers is about two-to-one,
which may or may not be an exact ratio of
bettors to winners.
Pari-mutuel wagering, while sounding
complex, is a simple process. Money that
is bet on a race goes into a pool to be
shared by the state, the track, race win-
ners and bettors.
In a sense, a pari-mutuel wager is much
like a stock transaction. When a bettor
buys a $3 ticket on a horse, he is, in effect,
buying one share in the horse’s perfor-
mance in that race. The track has no in-
terest in which horses win or lose, in-
asmuch as patrons do not wager against
the track. They wager against each other.
The race track merely acts as a broker for
the transaction and deducts its commis-
sion.
The odds on each horse, and the eventual
payoffs are determined by the sums
wagered on the various entries by the
public. The horse on which the most money
is wagered will give the smallest return if
he wins because the entire pool of win bets
must be divided among the holders of win-
ning tickets.
An outstanding favorite will sometimes
return as little as $3.30 (for a $3 wager), or
10 cents on the dollar, which is the
minimum return prescribed by law in
most states. If an outsider or longshot
wins, the pay-off will be considerable
because fewer people hold winning tickets
and the entire pool is divided among them.
The three basic types of bets are win,
place and show. A win ticket is good only if
the horse wins. A place ticket is good if he
wins or runs second. A show ticket is good
if he runs first, second or third.
The pay-off for place or show is deter-
mined by first dividing the pool—into two
parts in the case of the place pool and three
parts in the show pool—and then dividing
those parts among the holders of winning
tickets involved.
Usually, 10 horses are entered in each
race. That means the odds are against the
bettors. However, for people who enjoy
taking risks and who have spare cash that
they can afford to lose, a trip to the Delta
Downs racing complex can be an en-
joyable experience. And there’s always
the chance that they may leave with
money in their pockets rather than a hole
in them.
Above: The horses shoot out of the starting
gate at the start of a race at Delta Downs
in Vinton, La.
Right, top: The horses in the lead make the
turn coming into the home stretch near the
close of a race.
Right, center Bettors eagerly and anxiously
scan the Daily Racing Form, trying to pick
a winner.
Right, bottom: Stewards on horseback lead the
field of horses onto the track before each
race so that bettors may get a look at
each prospect.
Below: It’s a photo finish in the third.
Photos by
JAN COUVILLON
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Bonnin, Richard. University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 60, No. 24, Ed. 1 Wednesday, November 23, 1983, newspaper, November 23, 1983; Beaumont, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth500199/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 6, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Lamar University.