Richey the leading man in Louisiana

Tony Richey is a busy man these days. So busy, in fact, that he finds himself atop the trainer standings at both Evangeline Downs and, 200 miles to the north, Louisiana Downs.

Through the first five weeks of the Evangeline meeting, Richey has had 13 winners to lead Karl Broberg by a single victory. During opening weekend of this year’s Louisiana Downs meeting, he sent out three winners and also holds a slim one-victory advantage.

“It is going to be tough to lead at both tracks all summer now that both are running,” Richey admitted trackside during training hours at Louisiana Downs on Sunday morning. “It’s all about numbers, and we have kind of split our operation. We got off to a good start at Evangeline last month, and it has carried over to up here.”

Richey won the 2010 Louisiana Downs training title, his first after almost 30 years of training in the Mid-South region. He says defending his crown this year is not the stable’s primary goal.