Opelousas, Louisiana –Evangeline Downs will offer horsemen an expanded and beefed up stakes schedule featuring 25 events worth a record $2.015 million, an increase of more than 12% from last year during the upcoming 2008 Spring/Summer meeting that will begin on Wednesday, April 9. The 85-night season will feature the same four evening a week schedule, Wednesday-Saturday thru the traditional closing night of the season, Monday, September 1, Labor Day with a first post time of 6:20 p.m. central.

The stakes schedule features a total of ten events worth $100,000 or more, including the Evangeline Mile on August 16. The “Mile” for three-year-olds and up, annually attracts the best handicap horses from both the mid- and southwest and is the richest race on the calendar with a purse of $200,000. Last year's renewal was captured by Louisiana bred Costa Rising, who dominated his rivals by double-digits under veteran Kerwin Clark for trainer Glenn Delahoussaye and owner Charles Castille.

State-bred horses are in the spotlight on the fourth edition of Louisiana Legends Night, which features six races with a purse of at least $100,000 and a total of eleven black type events that are worth more than $900,000 on the program which will be held on Friday, July 4.

Three new races appear on the schedule and they include the $75,000 Opelousas Stakes for two-year-old fillies on Saturday, August 30, and a pair of races that are restricted to state-bred three-year-olds, the Salute Stakes for fillies on June 13, and the Acclaim Stakes for colts & geldings on June 14. The Salute Stakes this year honors A Thrill for Jill while the Acclaim Stakes will honor Bet Me Best. Evangeline Downs Racing Secretary Jason Boulet stated “Louisiana Racing, and especially Evangeline Downs has long been a proving ground for two-year-olds, and while we have a three-race program of six-figure events for the colts, the addition of the Opelousas now gives us a similar program for the fillies.” Boulet further stated “The Salute & Acclaim Stakes will each have a purse of $60,000 and will be held three weeks prior to Louisiana Legends Night in order to provide a final lead-in event for those three-year-olds and their connections preparing for their respective Legends Night engagements.”

2008 spring/summer stakes schedule

April 11.	Inaugural	3yo	6f	$60,000
April 12.	Hallowed Dreams	3yof	5 1/2f	$60,000
April 19.	John Henry	3&up	1 mile	$60,000
May 2.	Need for Speed	3&up	5f	$60,000
May 3.	Tellike	3&upf/m	6f	$60,000
June 13.	The Salute Stakes	3yof	7f	$60,000
June 14.	The Acclaim Stakes	3yo	7f	$60,000

LOUISIANA LEGENDS NIGHT- JULY 4.

Mervin Muniz Starter	3&up	1m 70yds	$50,000
Gene Norman Starter	3&upf/m	5f	$50,000
Attaway Darbonne Starter	3&up	5f	$50,000
B.B “Sixty” Rayburn	3yo	1 mile	$75,000
Frank A. “Buddy” Abadie	3yof	1 mile	$75,000
Pola Benoit	4yo&up	1 1/16 miles	$100,000
J. Archie Sebastien	4yo&upf/m	1m 70yds	$100,000
Junius Delahoussaye	3yo&up	5 1/2f	$100,000
Pierre Leblanc	3yo&upf/m	5 1/2f	$100,000
D.S. “Shine” Young	2yoc&g	5f	$100,000added
D.S. “Shine” Young (filly)	2yof	5f	$100,000added

LOUISIANA LEGENDS NIGHT- JULY 4.

July 19.	Oak Hall	3yo&up	7f	$60,000
July 26.	Matron	3yo&upf/m	1 mile	$60,000
Aug 1.	John Franks Sales (filly)	2yof	6f	$100,000
Aug 2.	John Franks Sales (c&g)	2yo	6f	$100,000
Aug 16.	Evangeline Mile	3&up	1 mile	$200,000
Aug 30.	Opelousas	2yof	6f	$75,000
Sept 1.	Lafayette	2yo	6f	$100,000

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