(announcer) New Orleans Fair Grounds Memories is made possible by the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation, and by the WYES Producers Circle, a group of generous contributors dedicated to the support of WYES's local productions.

And by viewers like you, ♪ [Bugle playing "Call to Post"] (male # 1) It had a special smell to it.

It was, it was the corned beef and-and-and peanuts and all these things come together with of course the cigar smoke that was always in the air.

It was just a great place, and it had a lot of character to it.

We get some gorgeous mornings and we've seen mornings where we have the ground fog where horses are literally galloping through the fog.

And as daylight really seems to surface, then the whole area is truly alive.

And the church bells, you know, when we hear the church bells ring at 6 o'clock, we know the track's open.

He was called Black Cat supposedly because he was unlucky.

That he used to pick the uh, selections in the newspaper, and he picked like seven winners that day, but when he went to the track he didn't bet on any of them.

(male # 2) The entire building was on fire.

And if you've ever been to the Fair Grounds, you're familiar with those concrete steps that are outside the track that lead up to the building where you can watch, from an elevated view, the races.

The fire was so hot that that concrete was glowing red.

And it just tore the whole Fair Grounds down.

I'm not ashamed to say I cried when I saw it.

In my lifetime I've been to the Louisiana Derby three times.

One with Star, one with Kandaly, and second with Big EZ.

To get to any of the classics, you got to win the Louisiana Derby.

You got to be in it.

You can't win it if you ain't in it.

(male # 3) It used to be like almost a certain nostalgia when the meet ended, okay.

That was it.

Now it's sort of been replaced like, Oh, wait now the horses are gone, now we got Jazz Fest for the next three weeks.

I'm Peggy Scott Laborde.

It was once an encampment for soldiers.

And the sight of dare devil air shows.

But we know the Fair Grounds as a place, where, for almost two hundred years, majestic horses have zipped down the stretch.

And as the setting for one of the world's top music festivals.

All are part of New Orleans Fair Grounds Memories.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (Peggy Scott Laborde) Thanksgiving week at the Fair Grounds race course is the traditional kickoff to the New Orleans horse racing season.

The jockeys are decked out in their finery, and so is some of the crowd.

Oh, Thanksgiving Day and Derby Day are the two days that we always encourage our lady patrons, and men patrons too, to dress up.

The Bywater group, or the Marigny group, really started coming in after Katrina and I think they have added a flavor to the Fair Grounds second to none.

I started taking my family out there when my, my son was five and my daughter was four.

So we used to dress up and spend the day out there in the old clubhouse.

It just attracted a lot of people, you know, stars, musicians, Louis Prima.

It was very, very festive.

And it was kind of the place to be.

(male # 4) And also, of course, it struck me as an excellent way to celebrate an American holiday.

When the season begins, everyone's in a good mood.

I mean, it's, they still have hopes of winning money and other wild dreams like that.

My earliest memory is Thanksgiving morning.

My grandfather and father owned Armored Car Incorporated and they took care of all of the money that needed to be delivered from the bank.

And they would take it out on Thanksgiving morning and it would be distributed to all the ladies who would be counting it out in the bowels of the racetrack.

And they all had- some of them had gloves on to keep their fingers from getting green.

First day of Fair Grounds when it opens for Thanksgiving Day, there's nothing better than to be able to be there for Thanksgiving.

And I know you have the turkey, but boy I love the corned beef and cabbage.

Just old friends.

Corned beef is actually a very interesting tradition at the Fair Grounds.

You don't see a lot of corned beef in New Orleans.

But the caterer was a company called Turf Catering that started the steam ship round roast beef and the corned beef on the concession stands.

When we took over in 1990, we actually auditioned purveyors for that first year to find out who we thought was best suited.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) On the backside, this week helps set the stage for the entire racing season.

Everybody started getting their horses ready.

Everybody started getting anxious for the races.

You know, they, a couple of days before, you already know who ya gonna run and who you ain't gonna run.

So you kind of, you know, you get a little jittery, you know, get a little nervous, and just can't wait for that day to get there.

As a rider, he want to win a race opening day, because, or two or three races opening week.

Whoever wins the most races that week, this is who's going to get a lot of attention.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Horse racing has been part of the history of New Orleans for almost two centuries.

The Fair Grounds considers 1872 as its official opening year, making it the third oldest horse racing track in America.

But racing took place on a site much earlier.

(Bryan Krantz) Racing in New Orleans has always been a big part of the culture of the city.

They would line carriages up and parade out to the sites of the race tracks, whether that's Old Metairie, where Metairie Cemetery is now, or the race track that was on the site of what's now Tad Gormley, or the Fair Grounds.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Right after the Civil War, having been used as a confederate and then union camp ground, the Mechanics and Agriculturists Fair Association took over the land.

They staged commercial exhibitions and a variety of activities, but continued horse racing.

Respected New Orleans architect James Gallier, Jr. was hired to design a pair of ornate gate houses at the Gentilly Boulevard entrance.

During the track's history many personalities stand out.

Among the better known horse owners was union General George Armstrong Custer.

(Bryan Krantz) He was a writer for Spirit of the Times, which was sort of the racing form of that era.

And then he came to the Fair Grounds and had a string of horses, trained horses, the first year in 1872.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) In that same year, Custer accompanied Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanov on an American tour that included a visit to New Orleans.

Custer, the Grand Duke and their party went to the Fair Grounds and also witnessed the first Rex Parade.

President Ulysses S. Grant was a visitor to the track and yet another luminary was Old West lawman Pat Garrett, who raced a stable in 1893.

In the early 20th century, the track was once again used for wartime purposes.

(male # 5) During the Spanish-American War, and World War One, it was used as an encampment for soldiers.

Now, I remember my grandmother talking about going out to the Fair Grounds to visit neighbors that were in the, that were, had been drafted.

And they were out in tents in the field of the Fair Grounds.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) In 1914, the Fair Grounds was the site of an airplane acrobatic show, featuring early aviatrix Ruth Law performing daredevil acts.

Four years later, the grandstand burned, and a temporary structure was built.

When the nearby City Park Race Track closed in 1920, the building was dismantled and moved to the Fair Grounds.

In the twenties, Kentucky born Colonel E.R.

Bradley, whose horses won the Kentucky Derby four times, became the new owner of the Fair Grounds and made many improvements.

In the mid-thirties, the track changed hands once again and then faced bankruptcy with plans to be converted into a residential subdivision.

Wealthy businessman William G. Helis, Sr. gathered together a group of investors who came to the rescue forming the Fair Grounds Corporation.

When the business leaders of the city of New Orleans saw that the Fair Grounds was in trouble, they came to the aid of the Fair Grounds and bought the property and bought the rights to the Fair Grounds.

Well then they encountered, you know, World War II came along and yet the group stayed together.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Over the years the Fair Grounds has been home to horses that became real standouts.

A few are even buried there.

Pan Zareta raced all over the United States and Mexico, setting many records.

She was called the "Queen of the Turf" but died of pneumonia in 1918, while at the track.

Black Gold was the first horse to win four different state derbies, including the Louisiana Derby and the Kentucky Derby.

He fell during a race in 1928.

There are races held at the Fair Grounds bearing their names.

Very much a part of Fair Grounds history were horse owners Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown.

The Browns' passion for horse racing at the track and around the country spanned from the forties to the early eighties.

We had one of the biggest barns, and one of the most number of horses there.

And people loved it and when the Browns had an entry and they would bet, and they would love it when one of the Browns' horses won.

(track announcer) An eighth of a mile to ride and Cabilido's going away.

I-O coming on the outside.

Mike is third.

down on the rail is Actor A sixteenth of a mile to go.

It's Cabildo and pressing up on the outside is I-O.

They come on to the finish.

It's Cabildo and I-O and Mike.

Cabildo wins it.

I-O was second.

Mike is third Actor fourth.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Mrs. Brown's affection for her horses made an impression on a skittish colt.

And he'd nip at you as you walked by in front of the stall.

But Mrs. Brown, she walked right up to that horse.

She put her arm under his neck, pulled the horse's nose right into her cheek, and she said, "Hello darling.

How are you darling?"

And the horse didn't begin to want to bite at her.

No way.

He knew where his oats was coming from.

Joe W. Brown Stable was one of the finest stables out at the Fair Grounds.

After Joe died, Mrs. Brown ran the stable.

She always came out elegantly dressed.

(June Melancon) I thought she was a very nice lady, you know.

And she had some good horses.

And she was a sweet lady.

I mean she was very, very nice.

Because I gallop horses, I was riding all over the race track.

But she took care of her people real good.

I admired her.

She did a lot for the state, and a lot for Louisiana racing.

And they wanted it to continue even when they got older and were gone.

And that's what I love about her, is that she wanted to be sure that there was always racing here in Louisiana.

(Angus Lind) She had some of the finest horses at the race track.

I can remember horses like Dapper Delegate, who won the Louisiana Derby.

She had I-O, Kentucky Sherry, Wayward Minor, Cabildo, Green Hornet, Bobby Brocato, Dr. Brocato.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Among the most popular of the Browns' horses was one named Tenacious, who ran in the 1960's.

(male # 6) Oh, Tenacious, he was a come-from-behind horse.

(track announcer) That was Tenacious, moving up to take the lead and driving finish And he would be way behind the pack and give you heart failure and just come flying at the end and win.

He was, he was a real good horse.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Tenacious earned his popularity as a three-time winner of both the Louisiana Handicap and the LeComte Handicap.

He also won the New Orleans Handicap two years in a row.

Mrs. Brown's jockeys wore their silks with pride.

(Paul Spencer) The Browns' silks were white with black stars on the sleeves, on the back, on the chest, and a letter B, a big letter B front and back.

They won the New Orleans Handicap, they won the New Orleans Handicap six times.

They won the Derby too, the Louisiana Derby six times too.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) During the 1950s and into the early '60s, longtime WDSU-TV personality Mel Leavitt presented races from the Fair Grounds on Saturday afternoons.

In an interview with writer Ronnie Virgets, Leavitt recalled those days and his friendship with Mrs. Brown.

On Sunday morning, Dorothy Brown called me up and she said, "Mel, would you mind "would you mind if we named a horse after you?"

I said, "Would I mind?

"Mrs. Brown, I'd be delighted."

She said, "I have two horses.

"Two horses, young, yearlings, look good.

"I'll give you the blood lines."

Well, one thing led to another and I picked the horse eventually named Mel Leavitt.

Mel Leavitt won a few races, but the Browns, bless their heart, chose to take it when it was a three-year-old all the way to Churchill Downs, where it achieved a record.

I think it's a record, Ronnie.

The record is simply this, a twenty-one horse field, Mel Leavitt ran twenty first.

The other horse I didn't pick, was Bobby Brocato, and he won five hundred thousand dollars.

So that's why I don't bet.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) In 1977, supermarket owner Joe Dorignac and businessman Louis Roussel and son Louie Roussel III, purchased the Fair Grounds.

Under their ownership, a turf course was added, along with lights for nighttime racing.

Joe Dorignac and Louis Roussel, I kind of lump together, because they kind of went hand-in-hand as far as the ownership of the track.

I think he was very attentive to the track.

He was a stickler for keeping the place squeaky clean, as he did his store.

And, of course, his son, Joey, was a trainer, and very much involved in racing.

The elder Dorignac was kind of the patriarch of the thing, and his son was very actively involved in the racing industry.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Among the best known horses in Dorignac family stable was Cangirod, Dorignac spelled backwards.

As for Roussel, he had a horse that went far beyond the Fair Grounds, sired by the legendary Secretariat.

His name, Risen Star.

(Bob Fortus) He bought him for three hundred thousand, which is a pretty hefty amount of money.

But it's a great big horse.

I was out one morning, and he showed me, he said, "There-that's Risen- that's the horse we just bought."

So, I saw him and I remember that he said, "He's going to win the Belmont."

He said that before the horse even ran.

He's a great big horse and you know, son of Secretariat, the whole, you know.

He was really impressive, just watching him, you know, go around the track then.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) New Orleans area automobile dealership owner Ronnie Lamarque has raced horses at the Fair Grounds for years, and one day received a call from Roussel with an unexpected request.

(Ronnie Lamarque) I need a partner, and I want you.

Louie, I don't have 150,000 dollars.

He says, "Pay me when you get it."

I said, Okay, I'll take it.

So I go to the first race, the Prelude Stakes at Louisiana Downs.

And here's this horse coming down the stretch like Bronko Nagurski.

That's a great running back way back in the NFL.

And he's hitting horses Boom, boom.

He was like fifth with only like 50 yards to go.

And boom, boom, wins, wins by two.

I was standing there with young Thad Ackel.

I said, My gosh, did you just see what I saw?

He says, "Yeah."

So that next day, which was a Monday, I went by Louie Roussel's house and knocked on the door.

He said, "Hey, What's this?"

I said, That's your 150,000 dollars.

He says, "I told you pay me when you get it."

I said, Louie, I want to make sure your memory stays good.

I own half the horse.

And I got the front half; I just want you to know that.

And that's how I bought one half of Risen Star.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) In 1988, Risen Star won the Louisiana Derby, an important step to the Kentucky Derby.

(male #7) I was riding against him.

He was too good a horse so I had to move out of his way.

You know I rode a couple times against that horse and he was- he was a good horse.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Alas, Risen Star came in third in the Kentucky Derby.

Lamarque, who has a penchant for belting out an occasional tune, had a song that he never got to sing.

(Ronnie Lamarque singing) ♪When you wish upon a Star.♪ ♪Just make sure it's Risen Star.♪ ♪When you wish on Risen Star,♪ ♪your Kentucky Derby dreams come true.♪ ♪When the first week of May comes 'round,♪ ♪roses bloom at Churchill Downs,♪ ♪people will come from near and far♪ ♪to see the winner Risen Star.♪ Thanks Star.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) But there would be other opportunities.

Few weeks later, you know, it was on the bubble.

Was he or was he not going to run in the Preakness Stakes?

Then lots of people starting giving offers to Louie to buy the horse.

Gaines, Gaines Way Farm wanted him, other people wanted him.

I said, Louie, I'm not selling my half, you know, I gotta play this hand.

I'm playing this hand all the way through.

And we know the Preakness is a speed race.

The weather was bad.

Louie was going to talk about scratching, scratching, scratching.

I said, Louie we gotta- we gotta run this horse.

I even called his mother, and told his mother to call him.

And she did.

And he says, "You talked to my mom?"

And I said, Yeah, I talked to your mom.

I said, Louie, you can't scratch this horse.

See I had a vote, Louie had a vote, and then the trainer had a vote.

Oh, right that was Louie.

So Louie had two votes, I had one, you know.

Is that Democratic?

Hello?

(Peggy Scott Laborde) The rest is national horse racing history.

Roussel decided to run Risen Star.

His jockey, Eddie Delahoussaye, who had ridden the horse in the Kentucky Derby.

(Ronnie Lamarque) Eddie was a really class guy, very, very knowledgeable, wonderful race rider.

And it's amazing the amount of great talent that comes from Louisiana in horse racing.

He looked like his Daddy winning, Secretariat, He's probably the best three year- old I've ever ridden."

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Along with the expertise of Eddie Delahoussaye, Risen Star also got some divine assistance, specifically from the Catholic order of nuns, The Little Sisters of the Poor.

Yeah, Louie made a deal with them to, I guess he said, "You keep praying for me, and I'll give you a percentage of our winnings."

And they did, you know, and we gave them a percentage of our winnings.

It was really a nice touch.

Very, very nice touch.

And Risen Star won easily.

And to get to the Belmont stakes three weeks later, he won even easier.

Risen Star was sired by the great Secretariat, who had won the Triple Crown in 1973.

I'll never forget the call of the race.

"Risen Star is winning.

Running just like his daddy did."

And, you know, of course, when Ronnie grabbed the mic, and started singing New York, New York, and, or his version of New York, New York, he was a terrific ham.

And it was good for racing, and the media loved it.

♪Starting spreading the news.♪ ♪Risen Star is in town.♪ ♪Star's here to win the Belmont Stakes♪ ♪in ol' New York.♪ ♪He's here to win the race♪ ♪just like his grand old dad♪ ♪who scored by 31 lengths hand in hand,♪ ♪top of the heap, A number 1.♪ ♪These lucky horse shoes, ba ba na na na♪ [snaps] ♪will run away da, da, da, na, na♪ [snaps] ♪from the rest of the field♪ ♪right here at Belmont Park.♪ ♪And when Star wins it here,♪ ♪Star will be Horse of the Year.♪ ♪Risen Star salutes New York,♪ ♪New, ba, ba, na, na, ba, ba, ba New York!♪ ♪Risen Star!

Bam.

(track announcer) Down the strech they come!

Risen Star drawing off He's in front by 15, by 18.

Risen Star takes the Belmont, just like his Daddy, Secretariat did!

Absolutely gorgeous.

I have fond memories of Risen Star.

And one of my dreams is to be able to win the Risen Star Stakes.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Thoroughbred owner Evelyn Benoit, originally from Houma, Louisiana, grew up around horses.

In 2011, her horse, Star Guitar, made her proud.

(Evelyn Benoit) Star Guitar.

To me he was a dream come true, the greatest horse I've ever had.

He had charm, talent, great looking horse.

Great athlete.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Star Guitar's stellar career set a record as the top earning Louisiana born thoroughbred, winning almost two million dollars.

(Evelyn Benoit) He raced 'til he was seven years old.

On his very last race, he broke a track record.

We wanted him to be a stallion for Louisiana so that's why we retired him.

But he did love everything about racing.

And he was so gentle.

But when he got on that race track, he was all business.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) The horse's name is inspired by Benoit's son, Tab, a singer and guitar player.

No longer running races, today Star Guitar keeps busy with another occupation.

(Evelyn Benoit) Star Guitar is happy at stud.

He is a father of approximant sixty or seventy babies and he is due to have the same crop this coming spring.

Star loved racing, but he loves his job at stud now.

♪ (Peggy Scott Laborde) With a location once considered the outskirts of the city, today's Fair Grounds is surrounded by a neighborhood.

(male # 8) I was born within a shout of the Fair Grounds, the neighborhood which starts to change right around Labor Day.

They had a lot of rental property in the Gentilly- Broad area at that time, and people would rent property, you know, trainers, owners, jockeys, people that worked in the mutuels, sold the pari-mutuel tickets and all that.

And they'd come back every year, and ironically the Pelican baseball team which was around in those days.

It was a nice offset for people who owned property.

They could rent to the Pelicans in the summer, Pelican baseball team, and rent to the racetrack people in the early winter.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Mike Kerrigan's family lived near the track and rented to folks who worked there.

But, you know, the old handicappers, they would come home and set up there and crunch their numbers for the next day's sheet.

The trainers got up early and they left to go out and take care of the horses.

Whether they won or lost, there was a-the living room was full of these characters that would come over and have an evening drink and discuss the wins and losses of the day.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Yet another nod from the neighborhood to the track is a street alongside.

(Sandra Salmen) Well, Derby Place came about because of the Fair Grounds.

You know, when you look at old pictures, you know, Derby Place was a place where a lot of horsemen lived, so what a better name than Derby.

(Edmun Muniz) My grandfather, he owned a couple of horses.

And he had a lot on D'Abadie Street.

So my grandfather would let people rent his stables.

And they would just take the horse in the van and bring them over to the track the day of the race.

And you know horses, they'd have, put liniments on their legs and everything.

It had a certain aroma.

And you could start to smell it in the neighborhood.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) When folks who work at the track want to relax, over the years there have been numerous nearby hangouts.

Liuzza's by the Track is a prime example.

(male # 9) Liuzza's by the Track is one place now where if you go in there after the, during the season they'll be, you know, many racetrack people, trainers, jockeys, that go in there.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) After a big win, some lucky bettors couldn't help but be interested in fancier fare.

Crescent City Steak House is near the track, and so is another popular restaurant.

(Sandra Salmen) Win or lose, race-trackers tend to like to celebrate.

And by having had Chris' Steakhouse there on the corner of Orleans and Broad St., it was a great hangout for racetrackers.

And Ruth, because she loved to play cards, you know she would always be there, and, you know, a game of Gin Rummy was going on or Racetrack Rummy, and it was great having Crescent City Steakhouse right there.

And, you know, they could go and get a hearty meal after a day at the races, or possibly having a few cocktails at the races, they could then have a steak and head home.

(Bryan Krantz) Ruth was a great supporter of horse racing.

She bred horses.

Uh, she had, uh, you know, raced horses as well.

She was at the race track on a regular basis.

Had a box at the Fair Grounds.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Growing up in the Fair Grounds neighborhood and going to the track with a cousin influenced one race fan in his plans to start a Mardi Gras parade.

Merv and I were fanatical about radio and racing.

I ended up in the radio business.

Mervin ended up as the director of racing.

And, I'm telling you, he was acclaimed all over America.

Walker Spangenberg said you should go to the library and look through all the books on mythology and all that, and pick a name you like.

I looked through the book and the only reason why I stopped at the name Endymion was because I bet on a horse.

The Krewe of Endymion used to roll, and it began right on Gentilly Boulevard, right in front, literally, in front of the Fair Grounds.

And it did, it wasn't on the route it is today.

And there were a lot of race trackers involved with Endymion.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) The Fair Grounds complex comprises 145 acres, but the focus is the course itself.

(Angus Lind) Well, the course is a one-mile oval, one-mile dirt oval, with a turf course in the middle.

And that came on later in years, well, a long time it was dirt only.

It's one of the best dirt courses in the country.

That's why they still attract some great stables who come down here to run their horses and to train their horses for the possibility of going on to bigger races like the Kentucky Derby.

Well one of the things that's unique about the oval itself is that the stretch when you turn to come into the home stretch is, I think, the second longest in the United States.

So, that gives you hope when your horse is coming around that stretch that you've got a little extra time then you'd have say at some other track to still make a run, make a comeback.

It's nice to go down to, you know, to the rail.

And you got the thundering hooves as they say, and you get the feeling of the more of the drama of the races.

You've got more of a feeling of what it's actually like to ride a horse going that fast surrounded by a lot of other horses trying the same thing.

I mean it's an exhilarating spectacle.

Of all the race tracks, the paddock area is so close, and a fan can get up close and personal with the owner and the horse.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Way before off-track betting became legal, there were the bookies.

(Sandra Salmen) I have friends that come to New Orleans, and they said, "There's neighborhood bars all over.

Why are there so many bars?"

Well, I think part of it was spurned by the fact that they were book-makers also.

(Ronnie Virgets) I had an uncle who ran a bar room slash bookmaking parlor on Belfort Street right here.

So I would make up excuses why I'd have to go visit him.

And he was quite a guy.

He had two skills that I never did see.

He had an amazing memory for like taking bets and then wiping them off and keeping them only here.

And he could whistle with a cigarette in his mouth.

I was fascinated.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) There were occasional efforts to break up bookmaking operations in New Orleans, such as this police raid in 1937.

(Bryan Krantz) The bookies would go to great lengths.

We had issues where, you know, bookmakers would run phone lines for literally two or three miles, and be in a tree with a pair of binoculars trying to get results and trying to get closing odds to pass back, and to pass on to, you know, their home base or others, and you know, that went on right up and probably until the late 1970s, early 1980s.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Among the more colorful Fair Grounds personalities was Allen Black Cat LaCombe.

Thirteen to win on number four.

[starting bell] God, he's running the opposite way Allan "Black Cat" Lacombe was an Irish Channel original.

He moved to the Irish Channel from Echo, Louisiana.

And Black Cat wore a derby, you know, that's what he liked to wear.

It's a lucky hat.

This hat here, a fellow sent it to me, he got it from a guy that came from Italy.

That hat was blessed by the Pope.

He said everybody gonna rub that hat is going to be lucky.

They're gonna win something.

But Alan was forever involved with horse racing.

I mean, he was the handicapper for the newspaper.

He became the track's quote, publicity director.

He very difficult guy not to like.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Bryan Krantz, whose family also owned Jefferson Downs, bought the race track in 1990.

And Alan became kind of my babysitter and so he taught me how to make daily doubles.

And he taught me how to do show parlays and he cowed with me to make bets.

(Ronnie Virgets) And one day he picked uh, I don't know, there were nine races and he picked eight or nine winners.

Didn't bet on any of 'em, right.

He picked 'em, but he had somehow talked himself out of betting on the winners, so, you know, that kind of cemented his reputation.

(Allan Lacombe) That's another ticket I can add to the- to the losers.

And I look at him, he's got a brown shoe, got a black shoe.

He's got a blue sock, he's got a green sock.

I said, Black Cat, I said, Are you okay?

"What you looking at?"

He said, "Don't look at that, that's good luck."

I said, That's good luck?

"Yeah, it's good luck, touch 'em."

I touched his shoes.

Of course, we won.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) LaCombe died in 1989.

What they did that was extremely unusual was that Alan's body, the casket was in a hearse, which was taken to the Fair Grounds and they had a spin around the one mile oval [bugle playing] and then they stopped at the finish line.

He crossed the finish line.

And then the bugler played Taps.

[bugle playing taps] And then he was off to the cemetery.

[bugle playing taps] (Peggy Scott Laborde) Another larger than life personality was sportswriter and then WWL-TV sportscaster Hap Glaudi.

Glaudi loved the horses and at an early age, even had someone place a bet for him with the winnings going to pay for his high school tuition.

During his long-time stint on WWL, Glaudi would give race results.

And he loved racing and he was very good to the track.

And it was a huge thrill for me, so I'm whatever, 22 years old, and would go home and turn on the sports and, "And out at the Fair Grounds today "it was the, you know, the Lacompte Handicap "and here's Tony Bentley with the call."

I'm like, Oh my God!

He said my name!

(Tom Amoss) I went to Isidore Newman High School.

And so I would stop at the newsstand on the corner of Louisiana Avenue and Saint Charles, and I would buy that day's racing form which was available to us.

And I'd tuck it under my books, and then I would go to my room, and I would study the racing form.

At five-o-clock the, uh, news would come on WWL, and Hap Glaudi would always give the race results.

He was a big fan of the racing.

And I would walk out of my room, and I'd listen to his telecast, and I'd see how my selections did compare to what actually occurred.

I enjoyed that quite a bit.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Sportscaster Buddy Diliberto also had a fondness for the ponies.

(Angus Lind) Buddy never met a horse race he didn't like.

He was an incorrigible gambler, and like the Black Cat, just a loveable guy.

Buddy was terrific, but he loved to gamble.

And once you gave him a winner, you were his friend for life.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) And not to be forgotten was a beloved handicapper.

(Angus Lind) Richie Della was a handicapper for the Picayune.

He was a news, old-fashioned newspaper hawker down at the Richards Center near the National Bank of Commerce Building on Gravier Street.

And every day Richie would hold up the newspaper and say "Hey, States Item Final, "last edition, race results, "race results!"

And one day this priest comes by and he says "Son, every day I come here "and I hear you yelling "Final Edition, race results, "race results, "isn't there anything else "in that paper besides race results?"

He said, "Yes, sir.

"We have tomorrow's entries."

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Day in and day out, the grandstand has long been home to track patrons with various degrees of handicapping experience.

(Angus Lind) Yeah, guys like Cream Cheese Louis, Place and Show Joe, Broadview Joe, ran a crawfish place near the track on North Broad.

Everybody had a nickname.

You've got a coterie of regulars who are there almost every day, and you've got people who may be just there for that day, never see them again, few casual people you might see them once, twice, three times a year.

And most of the people kind of know each other who are up there now.

There were these group of people, younger people, and one of them went berserk.

I mean he started screaming when the horses running down the stretch.

He was just screaming for his horse and screaming.

And his horse won, and he was just jumping up, and I mean just making a scene extraordinaire.

So, race is over, he comes up to the window and cashes the ticket with me.

And it was like three dollars and eighty cents.

There were certain guys you'd go, Oh, that's a stooper Okay, a stooper was a guy who walked around and basically looked around for people who had been erroneously throwing away winning tickets.

But most of the fellows from the French Market liked the mezzanine unless you wanted to make a "toilet" bet.

Now a "toilet" bet is one where you want nobody else to know who you're betting.

If you're hanging out with a bunch of guys they, "Well, I'm going- I'm going to bathroom," you know" And, but instead of going to the bathroom, they'd go to another area and make a bet, you see?

And that's why they call it a "toilet" bet.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) As with any sport that involves betting, there are always ways to try to influence the outcome.

I'm very superstitious, sorry to say.

The morning of this year's Louisiana Derby, I was pulling into the backside and a black cat ran right out in front of my car.

I literally backed up, left the racetrack, and came in a different entrance to go to my barn to avoid passing over that spot the black cat was running in front of.

I don't know that it helped me this year.

But I also have a good luck television set.

So I watch my races always from the same television every day.

And when it said Friday the 13th I got just can't run no horses.

I used to scratch 'em most of the time.

But then it came to one point where I run a horse on Friday the 13, and the horse wins.

I said, "Man, I can't believe that."

Next year, the same thing.

I said, "well, my superstition is gone."

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Those who are doing the betting also have their own methods of seeking a win.

George Schmidt's father had one.

(George Schmidt) He says, "You know, I'm a winner."

He says, "I'm a winner, "and my method, when I come to the track," I said, Well how do you win all the time?

He says, "Well, when I--I," he says, "I pick a horse with a woman's name in it."

And so, he bet on something, you know, with a woman's name in it, and sure enough, he'd win.

He would, so we'd, he'd pay for the entire lunch, right, you know, corned beef and cabbage, and all that stuff.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) So what happens when the horse doesn't win?

(Tom Amoss) Well when a horse of mine doesn't win we have a twenty minute rule in my house.

That means my wife can't call or talk to me for twenty minutes after the race because it takes me about that long to digest the loss and then be okay again.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Superstition aside, it's often a safe bet to invoke the divine.

98 percent of the riders they'll say a little prayer, you know.

They, you know, they, call one of their saints' name, ask for some kind of protection or, you know.

And, I've always just, God let it be your will, I was blessed because, you know, I rode horses for twenty-three years and I never broke a bone in my life.

And that's not because I was great.

It was because of the grace of God.

You know, I would thank him for that.

There's not too many rider can ride that long without having broken bone.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Memories of the Fair Grounds before the 1993 fire remain vivid.

(Angus Lind) Well, the old Fair Grounds before the, prior to the fire in 1993 was, to me, was a gorgeous facility.

It was a rambling old wooden building that had been added on to several times but it had a fantastic clubhouse where there were myriads of debutante parties and birthday parties.

(Bonnie Boyd) And to go to the track was very sophisticated, very sophisticated indeed.

And to be able to bet and to have a Bloody Mary, and have corned beef, it was really quite exciting.

And the year that I made my debut, Felix Gaudin, he and his wife gave me a party.

And we all got dressed up and had hats on and went out to the track.

But, the interesting thing about it was that one of the jockeys that was riding one of the horses was Robert Baird, and he was no relation to us, but we all had to bet on his horse, and he won.

In the old building, my announcer's booth, you would go up some steps and actually go out on the roof.

The fun thing was that connection with the fans.

I could yell down to them; I could hear, you know, they were getting excited and, you know, as the race unfolded and I would too.

But it was just fun to, I met a few girls that way too actually.

Hey, you want to come up and watch a race?

(Peggy Scott Laborde) New Orleans Fair Grounds race track photographer Louis Hodges recalls a special place where track patrons could hang out in between races.

It was an area called the Palms Garden.

Not the Palm Garden, Palms Garden.

And it was windowless, and it was surrounded by these old, wooden stadium-type seats that would fold down.

And it wasn't very large, but the place had its own little bar down there.

And the people that frequented the Palms Garden were very special.

They weren't the high rollers, but they were the serious handicappers.

And I'll never forget, the space shuttle was coming overhead.

So I decide I'm going to go out and take a look.

This is a once in a lifetime thing.

And I said to one of them, Don't you want to go out and see the space shuttle?

And he said, "No, man.

I gotta study for this next race.

"I got handicapping to do!"

♪ (Peggy Scott Laborde) A winter evening in December 1993 marked another chapter in Fair Grounds' history.

(Lou Hodges) The next thing I know the phone starts ringing.

And I drove out to the Fair Grounds, and of course by the time I got to 610 going through City Park, you could already smell the smoke, and I knew we were in trouble.

I knew we were in big trouble.

(Angus Lind) My son and I had been to the track together that day.

Not far from sitting down to eat and the phone rang.

And it was my son.

He said, "Dad, turn on channel 4.

The Fair Grounds is burning down."

I'm just-I'm overcome.

You know, when I think of the history here and everything.

And it's just -it's going to be gone.

It's all gone.

(Angus Lind) I said, What?

So, everybody just froze.

And we turned on Channel 4 and we saw the flames.

And we saw the track.

And, I mean we were all stunned.

That's it.

Turn the dinners off.

We are going out there.

And we went to the track and watched it burn down.

It was extremely, extremely sad night.

And if you've ever been to the Fair Grounds, and you're familiar with those concrete steps that are outside the track that lead up to the building where you can watch from an elevated view of the races.

The fire was so hot that the concrete was glowing red.

And it just tore the whole Fair Grounds down.

I'm not ashamed to say I cried when I saw it.

You know, that was a big deal, a very big deal.

My mother, Vicky and I were standing there looking at the fire.

And my mother asked, "What are we going to do?"

And almost on cue, Quint Davis walks up.

(male # 9) I was sitting in Mandina's.

And in Mandina's there's a television set that's over a doorway that faces the bar.

And while I'm sitting there, on the screen is just flames.

Eh-all the way across the screen is flames.

And I'm kind of eating and it's odd to see a whole screen of just flames.

And somebody there who knew what I did said, "That's the Fair Grounds."

And I mean, my blood just stopped.

I'll never forget.

I stood up.

I was like numb.

Drove straight to the Fair Grounds, drove out onto the infield, and stood there watching it.

And by that time, Tag Richardson, our site director for all forty years, and maybe one or two other people from the festival met me on the infield.

And we stood there and watched it.

And I think even right then started to hatch the plan to build a temporary Fair Grounds in time to save the season.

So we literally took a flashlight and went into a shed and took out a piece of paper and drew the temporary configuration.

(Quint Davis) When we found that giant tent structure in Belgium, had it flown in.

Um, and our-our crew is just in-incredible, you know, building hundreds of thousands of square foot- feet of floor and-we recreated the whole Fair Grounds.

Luckily, the backstretch and the horses were not impacted by the fire.

Then they could train and their barns weren't burned and the fire was only on the front side.

And the very next day, Bryan Krantz, who was the president of the Fair Grounds, stood before us all and said we will be racing in two weeks.

(Bryan Krantz) We hope to have everybody working again by January 5th.

[Applause] He held that promise, and it was, it enabled me as well as everybody else to call our owners and say, "Relax, we're going to be running in two weeks."

And that was a very big deal.

I think we missed ten days of live races.

It was really an incredible effort.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) The origin of the fire proved to be electrical.

Krantz, his mother Maria and wife Vicky, undertook the daunting task of rebuilding.

The roofline, with its cupolas and terra cotta color were retained, as were the bleachers.

The Hall of Fame exhibit was reconstructed.

Recreated was the "Life at the Metairie" painting which depicted the historic Lexington vs. Lecompte race at the old Metairie race course, considered one of American racing's most historic competitions.

Among the more visible changes was the relocation and expansion of the paddock area, to allow more public access.

And the rear of the new building affords a view of the paddock along with the city skyline.

The challenges of financing such an effort included a delayed reconstruction timeline.

You know, the rebuilding was almost as difficult as dealing with the temporary facilities after the fire.

You know, really what it came down to was that the price of the project was going to be more than the insurance proceeds that existed at the time.

And we were trying to figure out how to do that.

And we approached the legislature to look for some relief from our video poker revenues, from the taxes and, you know, to assist in the rebuilding and that was a difficult sell, but you know, the legislature did allow us to, you know, get the legislation done, to put the banking in place.

It took us from, you know, December of '93, to November of '97 to get in a new building.

So, but you know, nothing is easy.

We preserved the history and the tradition, you know, that we felt was important and that we were able to do it in a way that, that I think will leave a great legacy for many years to come.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) The new structure has been part of the track's history for almost two decades.

(Lou Hodges) But I think as the new building has moved along through the years, it feels more homey now.

And I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way.

It just feels right now.

That's a good feeling.

So I think people, especially people that don't even remember the old Grand Stand, are going to feel the way about this building that we did about the old one.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) In 2004, the Krantz family sold the Fair Grounds race course, including an off-track betting component, to Churchill Downs, Inc.

In 2005, the Fair Grounds, as did all of New Orleans, had to face Hurricane Katrina.

The track was closed for over a year.

I went out there after the storm just kind of driving past and they had the roof had been peeled off by the wind.

Unbelievable spectacle, I mean, to see those, that, it's like a sardine can rolled back, you know.

(Tom Amoss) Because of Katrina that year we didn't race at the Fair Grounds, and the meet was moved to North Louisiana to Louisiana Downs.

And the Fair Grounds leased Louisiana Downs to run a meet there.

So that was a big deal because, not only myself, but so many of the trainers and so many of the horses had nowhere to go after Katrina and make their usual stop in New Orleans for those five months.

By having a meet in North Louisiana, by the Fair Grounds taking over that meet that allowed us to make an easy transition.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) Over the years, in addition to the horses, many Fair Grounds racing fans have had their moment in the winner's circle.

(Tom Amoss) I love the idea of races being named after groups and that group came to participate at the end of the race with the winner's circle ceremony.

I think that gives them a real taste of the passion that goes into getting a horse ready with the winning connections, the trainer, the jockey, the owner.

And I like how they mix those groups together for a winner's circle picture.

I enjoy that a great deal.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) In an effort to develop the track as more family friendly, in the more recent past zebras, and even wiener dogs have had their turn on the course.

Santa also pays a visit to the Fair Grounds.

And night time racing with live music creates more of a party atmosphere.

But there's also time for more quiet moments at the race track.

(Sandra Salmen) Oh, Sunday mass is a great tradition at the Fair Grounds, and it was started by Father Rogers who had been the chaplain for the fire department.

And we've been so fortunate over the years that it's never stopped.

And so we have a mass at 10 o'clock, and we certainly welcome anyone who wants to come and enjoy a very quick mass because our priest knows that they all have to get back to work and that the races are gonna start, so it's not a long mass but it's a very meaningful mass.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) The culmination of the racing season is Louisiana Derby Day in the spring.

This is a race for three year olds.

They race a mile and an eighth.

Well, what that is a chance to see if a horse belongs in the Kentucky Derby.

It's a proving ground.

Horses, you have a chance to show that they belong.

That's why it's important.

It's the day you see a lot of great out-of-town horses ship in to compete with the locals.

All the owners are down there in the middle of the paddock watching their horse carefully.

They're all decked out and they have their families.

For the Louisiana Derby, it's a mob scene in the paddock.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) In 2014, Vicar's in Trouble placed first and riding him to the finish line was jockey Rosie Napravnik.

(Angus Lind) Female jockeys definitely are part of the scene now.

You know, through the years, a lot of 'em tried and there was difficult, you know, coming up and being part of the boys' fraternity.

And they had to prove themselves.

And it was tough.

It really was.

But I think when the talent's there, I don't think anybody cares whether it's male or female.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) The racing season currently ends the day after the Louisiana Derby.

(Sandra Salmen) Well, the end of the Fair Grounds, while it used to be pretty sad to me, because that meant that everybody was leaving.

So when the race meet's over, the day it's over, the Jazz Fest comes in with 18 wheelers and you know we start to see the whole Jazz Fest.

A city that is, of course, engulfed in music, food and crafts.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) While the use of the track by the Jazz Fest is a perfect fit, someone had to come up with the idea.

And they did, in time for the 1972 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.

(Quint Davis) George Rhode was in charge of the concessions at the Fair Grounds at the time.

And there was somebody that he knew at the Jazz and Heritage Foundation.

And he had this idea that if the Jazz Fest would move, and I don't know how he could have this idea because the Jazz Fest moving at that time was like 14 people.

I mean, the first year of Jazz Fest in Congo Square there were so few people George Wein's wife went over to McDonough and begged them to do a field trip.

But George Rhode had this idea, bring that festival to the Fair Grounds and let us, you know, sell the food and sell the drinks.

And we'll be a home for you.

(Mike Kerrigan) Well when the Jazz Fest first started, it was very small.

Matter of fact we would just slide under the fence and go into the Jazz Fest.

It was a couple of stages and a small event that you could walk right up.

I never believed that it could get as big as it did.

The Fair Grounds has actually worked with us to put things on the infield before the racing season is over, so we can sort of pre-stage if you will.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) The two-weekend Jazz Fest takes place at the end of April and beginning of May.

You know, and I'm just thinking boy it was right here where so-and-so did this, or somebody made a big move.

But, that's me because I'm a horse racing fan and also, a music fan.

But, you know, the great majority of people who go out there I think are pretty oblivious to the fact that it's at the, at the Fair Grounds.

I love every part of the track.

And I end up living in a room in the jockey dorm for close to a month.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) While the rite of spring we know as the Jazz Fest remains a cultural treasure, it's horse racing that is the heart and soul of the Fair Grounds.

Families have long been a part of the track's history.

Albert Stall Junior is a leading trainer.

His father was chairman of the Louisiana Racing Commission.

And his grandfather was a horse breeder and owner.

And there are the jockeys, who take center stage in New Orleans racing history with their speed and courage.

In the Fair Grounds' more recent past, off-track betting and video poker are now part of track offerings.

In 2007, a slot machine facility was constructed next to the grandstands.

Among the local institutions getting revenue from tracks slot machines is nearby City Park.

The whole process of betting on horses and gambling in general has changed through the years.

(Chris Champagne) The biggest change is that well, there is so much more competition for the gambling dollar now in town, because you got the casinos and stuff, and the river boats, gambling boats I should say.

And, of course, there is the off-track betting, and computer betting now, so your clientele is dispersed.

They don't have to come to the plant.

The enthusiasm that they have for the game, the people who come is the same.

Every track in America is having the same problems in one way or another.

So I think they probably need to kind of look to each other and see what works.

You know, they try different things.

(Peggy Scott Laborde) In early 2014, there was public controversy concerning maintenance of the race track.

Ultimately an agreement was made to enhance the facility.

Among the numerous improvements are infield and paddock video screens.

In September, 2014, owner Churchill Downs, Inc. announced that the Fair Grounds was for sale.

Though business continues as usual.

Well, I think the Fair Grounds stacks right up there with the ability to enjoy the races for a limited amount of money, admission fee that's very, very reasonable and prices for food and beverages that are very reasonable.

And we put on a great show out there with the horses.

There's no doubt about it.

So I think the Fair Grounds stacks right up there with them.

The Fair Grounds to me is like a microcosm of the city.

And you know people, we've taken a lot of lumps over the years, but we always seem to come back as does the city, very resilient.

And I think we'll along- we'll be around as long as the city's around.

That's how I feel.

Well I think the Fair Grounds historically has meant a lot to the city of New Orleans.

I mean, the Fair Grounds is racing horses before Churchill Downs was built, before the Kentucky, the first Kentucky Derby was run.

So we're talking about a lot of history here.

I think it's a beautiful thing.

It's in a completely urban setting, you know, surrounded by city.

It's not built out in suburbs or anything like that.

Between the racing and the Jazz Fest, I'd say the Fair Grounds is a very valuable asset to the city.

But the most endearing music is the sound of the bugle, for once again the horses will be approaching the gate.

There are a few people in the Grand Stand that are regulars, and for what ever reason there's a guy in particular when he comes and talks to me before a race, I always win.

And theres another guy that comes to me and talks to me before a race, and I always lose.

So I find myself looking around if I want to win a race and hoping that the guy that comes and talks to me.

That makes me lose my races, it's obviously his fault, doesn't come around.

You know back in the old grandstand people would just throw their tickets all over the floor, mixed in with peanut shells, and some beer and that was perfectly acceptable.

And um I remember once asking my Father, Why don't they sweep between races?

Do a little sweeping.

He looked at me, and he said, "You know, horse players don't like sweeping.

If you're sweeping around them, they think your sweeping up all their luck along with it."

Well, I didn't necessarily eat there.

You'd get a hot dog or corned beef sandwich if you had money.

Corned beef tasted so -you know, why they say corned beef is so great out there because if you bought a -if you had money to buy a corned beef that means you're a BET A winner.

[laughs] If YOU BET A WINNER, you were all happy, anything tastes good to you, you know.

(announcer) New Orleans Fair Grounds Memories is made possible by the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation, and by the WYES Producers Circle, a group of generous contributors dedicated to the support of WYES's local productions.

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