Opelousas, Louisiana –Benefiting from a larger than expected on-track crowd and increased simulcast business across the country due to the Kentucky Derby, Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino set a new total single program handle mark Saturday evening. The total handle for the 11-race program of $2,444,675 shattered the previous mark of $2,218,014 recorded on Louisiana Legends Night in 2007 by more than $225,000.

Steve Darbonne, Director of Racing Operations stated "We are very pleased with our results. We had a very solid crowd for our afternoon simulcasting and that spilled over to our live program. We had some lines at our betting windows and concessions stands but nothing that we weren't able to handle." Darbonne added "Our handle has continued to show increases from last year’s record-breaking season. The word is spreading about our competitive brand of racing with full fields (field size has averaged more than 11 runners per race during the first month of the spring/summer season) and bettors across the country are responding with their pocketbooks."

In addition to the total handle mark, the evening’s fifth race handle of $341,713 is the highest single race handle ever recorded at Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino. On track handle also increased, as the total for the evening was $97,357, almost 15% higher than last year’s Derby Day live card total of $84,675.

Racing continues on a Wednesday thru Saturday schedule with a post time of 6:20 p.m. each evening.

For more information contact Evangeline Downs at 337 594-3000.