Jockey Bourque gets his 4,000 career win

VINTON — Jockey Steve Bourque reached a milestone in his career at Evangeline Downs Wednesday night as he recorded his 4,000th career win. The 53-year-old Louisiana native booted the 4-year-old Space Book in the second race on the program, a $5,000 claimer for fillies and mares.
Bourque has been a mainstay in this part of the country since 1979 when he began his career at the original Evangeline Downs in Carencro, said an Evangeline Downs news release. His first win came aboard the Terry Romero trainee Royal Avery. His richest tally came with Nitro Chip, who won the $200,000 Gold Cup at Delta Downs in 2004 for trainer Sam Breaux.
After retiring from the saddle for five years from 2010 to 2015, Bourque returned to racing at Delta Downs earlier this year. The time off was due to a job he took for his father-in-law, Joe Coulatta, who owned an oil services business in the Lafayette area which eventually shut down, leading to Bourque’s return to racing.
Bourque now ranks 69th among all North American jockeys in terms of wins.