The 71-year-old trainer Allen Landry is arguably operating the hottest barn in Louisiana. He will attempt to keep rolling Saturday when he saddles He’s Late Again in the $250,000, 1 1/8-mile Super Derby at Louisiana Downs.
Landry captured his first career training title this past spring at Delta Downs. Last weekend, he won three of the six Louisiana Cup Day stakes at Louisiana Downs. And on Monday, he picked up the training title at his base of Evangeline Downs.
Landry’s titles at Delta and Evangeline were complemented by the fact that he also led his peers in stable earnings, surpassing $1 million at each meet.
“I really can’t complain,” Landry said. “It’s been awesome. Everything’s been so good. I’ve got some good owners I got to blame for that, and my help’s been great. Gotta give it to them, doing a lot of the work.”
Landry’s run of success comes about 20 years after the native of New Iberia, La., resumed training following a break from racing.
“I got out of it for 12, 15 years, got into the trucking business,” he said. “The horse business got a little slow, so I got out and had a little trucking business, did well with that. I missed racing. I picked up two, three horses, then people started saying I was back in the horse business. Everybody started calling, and I picked up one here, one there, and I’ve been back in it close to 20 years now.”
Landry, who sold his trucking business just before “the oil field got slow,” now has 60 horses in training. He’s Late Again has been one of the barn’s top runners this year. He will be looking for his fourth consecutive stakes win when starts from post 5 in the seven-horse Super Derby.
“He’s a Louisiana-bred. [This] could be a little tough for him, but he’s a pretty good, decent horse,” Landry said.
Landry said options are limited for He’s Late Again right now because of what he’s accomplished. The 3-year-old has won five of seven starts and his three stakes wins have come in his last three starts, all at Evangeline for owner Larry Romero.
The complete field for the Super Derby from the rail with riders is: Fountain Lake, Isaac Castillo; Date the Prince, Devin Magnon; Instant Replay, Timothy Thornton; Mister Omaha, Joel Dominguez; He’s Late Again, Jansen Melancon; Rolando, Alexander Castillo; and Perry County, C.J. McMahon.
Landry and Melancon had stakes success together last weekend at Louisiana Downs with He’s Just Lucky in the Louisiana Cup Sprint and Two Good Old Guys in the Juvenile. Landry’s other winner on the Louisiana Cup card was Six String in the Filly and Mare Sprint.
Landry wrapped up the Evangeline title a few days later with 38 wins from 193 starts for stable earnings of $1,062,650, according to Daily Racing Form statistics. During the Delta meet, which began in October 2024, he won 45 races from 172 starts for stable earnings of $1,165,920, according to Equibase.
Landry said with the meet over at Evangeline, his stable will now return to Delta. He also has horses stabled at a training center and eventually will be welcoming a handful of new yearlings he purchased late last month at the Texas summer sale at Lone Star Park. Landry’s clients bought Louisiana-bred offspring of Dialed In, Mo Donegal, Mo Tom, Mr. Money, and Nashville.
Landry long has made his mark with Louisiana-breds. His list of stakes winners includes Net a Bear, Laughingsaintssong, Magic Vow, and Saints N Muskets. This year, Landry has won 10 stakes and is on pace to pass his stable’s peak annual earnings mark, $2.1 million, which was set in 2024. He is sitting at $2,092,420. He won a personal best 79 races in 2024 and has 67 so far in 2025.
Landry said racing is much more exciting than the trucking business.
“There’s no comparison with the horses,” he said. “I missed every minute of it. We enjoy every win. My wife still gets excited about it. She loves it. When I’ve got one in, she comes to the track as much as she can. She likes to be there. She’s my greatest supporter.”
Landry and his wife, Sondra, have been married 51 years. Landry said it’s been special for them to be on this kind of run in his 70s.
“With a little age, you probably appreciate it more,” he said. “It’s been sweet.”
Saturday’s Super Derby headlines Louisiana Downs’s most significant program of the year. First post will be 3:35 p.m. Central to accommodate an eight-race card, said Roxanne Tanner, the track’s director of racing.
As a fundraiser for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, riders will sign autographs beginning at 2 p.m. Hailey Wright, a former contestant on “The Voice,” will sing the national anthem, and the riders-up call will come from Command Chief Master Sgt. Shawn Aiello from nearby Barksdale Air Force Base.
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