When Louisiana Downs opened for nighttime thoroughbred racing in 1959, it was located where Lafreniere Park is now. The racecourse moved to Kenner in 1971 and closed for good in 1992.
Hey Blake,
After years of running in my neighborhood of Old Jefferson, I noticed that around Jefferson Parkway all the streets are in an oval layout. I asked an older resident if there was any reason the neighborhood was arranged this way. He said it was the original location of Jefferson Downs Race Track. Is there any truth to that and, if so, did Ronnie Virgets bet on any of the ponies at this track?
Lee
Dear Lee,
Ronnie Virgets has been known to visit racetracks " any that would let him in. He and Old Blake have spent many happy hours reading the racing form and picking winners " and losers.
Your old neighbor, however, was only partially right about the racetrack. There was a racetrack there, but it was called Jefferson Park. It opened in 1917 to the great annoyance of the Fair Grounds Race Course owners. Racetracks don't want competition in the next parish.
Many great races were run at Jefferson Park, including the Thanksgiving Handicap, the Christmas Handicap, the New Year's Handicap and the Louisiana Derby. In fact, the Louisiana Derby was run at Jefferson Park every year from 1920 to 1929. It was a very popular racetrack, but not with everyone.
In February 1921, Louisiana Gov. John Parker canceled the spring meeting at Jefferson Park because of his objection to racing during Lent. The meeting was scheduled to begin the day after the close of the Business Men's Racing Association winter meeting at the Fair Grounds. Local stockholders decided to oppose any attempt to run the spring meeting.
One said, 'We have everything to lose and nothing to gain. To run the meeting and antagonize Gov. Parker not only jeopardizes the future of racing in Louisiana, but means the end for all time."
No one was really surprised by the decision as rumors had been flying, but the cancelation was important enough to merit a story in The New York Times.
Then in 1934, the owners of Jefferson Park " Robert S. Eddy Jr. and Joseph Cattarinich " bought the Fair Grounds for $375,000. This purchase brought about the end of that opposition racecourse. Jefferson Park was abandoned.
Jefferson Downs was a horse-racing track of a different location. It was located where Lafreniere Park is now, and it wasn't even called by that name at first. A racetrack named Magnolia Park opened there for harness racing on Sept. 23, 1954. However, because trotting races were not quite so popular, the track was converted in 1959 to one for thoroughbred racing and was renamed Jefferson Downs. The horses raced at night, whereas at the Fair Grounds they raced by day.
The track stayed in business until Hurricane Betsy came on Sept. 9, 1965, and destroyed the track. Jefferson Downs reopened in 1971, but this time it was in Kenner. New Jefferson Downs stayed in business for almost 20 years, but the last local racing competition to the Fair Grounds came to an end when the Kenner track was closed in 1992.
When Jefferson Downs moved to its new location, this left the old site vacant. Plans were made to create a park in the area and by 1974, Jefferson Parish had acquired all of the Jefferson Downs property. Groundbreaking for the new park began in 1977, and on Nov. 6, 1982, Lafreniere Park was dedicated.
The park was named for Nicolas Chauvin de la Freniere, who had received a gift of 5,000 acres from Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville. On this land, La Freniere settled with his wife and family. When he died, the family land passed into the hands of his son, who made the fatal mistake of organizing a revolt against Spanish rule. For this attempt, he was executed on Oct. 5, 1769.
