(Edited Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino press release)
Evangeline Downs Racetrack and Casino has hired veteran racing official and horseman Coleman Lloyd as its racing secretary.
Lloyd, who began working as a racing official in 1994 after a successful two-decade career as a trainer and jockey agent, assumes the position left vacant after the departure of Jason Boulet to the Fair Grounds last fall. After closing his training operation in 1990, Lloyd served as a jockey agent based primarily in Louisiana before taking on the role of stakes coordinator at Louisiana Downs in 1994, a position he held until becoming senior association steward at the Bossier City, La., oval in 2002.
“We are pleased to bring in someone with such a well-rounded background as we enter this exciting new phase here at Evangeline Downs,” said Steve Darbonne, Evangeline Downs director of racing. “Coleman’s extensive contacts and strong knowledge of racing here in the South and Southwest along with the addition of the seven-furlong turf course will provide a solid boost to the racing program here in Cajun Country.”
The 55-year-old Lloyd also worked as an assistant racing secretary and stakes coordinator at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas from 1995 thru 2007, and at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, TX. in 1997 and 1998. More recently he has been the agent for jockey Terry Thompson, one of the leading riders in the Midwest.
“I am excited to be joining the team at Evangeline Downs and appreciate the opportunity given me,” Lloyd stated. “Evangeline Downs has had a dramatic turnaround in the past few years bucking an industry wide trend and I am looking forward to continuing those results. It’s long been my goal to be a racing secretary and I can’t wait for the season to begin.”
Evangeline Downs’ 2009 spring/summer Thoroughbred season will begin April 8 and run through Sept. 7. Racing during the 89-night season will be conducted on a four-evening a week schedule, Wednesday through Saturday.