Zenyatta: thrilling Breeders' Cup winner to be honoured at Santa Anita
PICTURE: Edward WhitakerGrade 1 race renamed in honour of Zenyatta
USA: The main west-coast Grade 1 trial for the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic is to be renamed in honour of Zenyatta, who has won the race in question for the last two years.
The Lady's Secret Stakes, a Grade 1 event for fillies and mares over 1m½f at Santa Anita usually run four weeks before the Breeders' Cup, will be known as the Zenyatta Stakes from 2010 onwards.
The race has been renamed to commemorate the five-year-old who produced one of the most dramatic victories in the history of the Breeders' Cup in this year's Classic.
"When the history books are written, we feel that what Zenyatta accomplished here on November 7 will go down as one of the all-time great achievements in American racing," said Sherwood Chillingworth, director of the Oak Tree organisation that officially conducts Santa Anita's prestigious autumn meeting.
"Lady's Secret was a great mare herself. She won the Distaff here in 1986 and went on to be named Horse of the Year, but what Zenyatta did here against the best horses in the world is something none of us who witnessed it will ever forget.
"It is particularly appropriate, in that she won the Lady's Secret two years in a row and like Lady's Secret, we feel strongly that Zenyatta should be Horse of the Year. Her brilliance is undeniable and we are proud to rename this prestigious race in her honour."
The D Wayne Lukas-trained Lady's Secret was owned by the late Eugene Klein and his wife Joyce.
Zenyatta, who retired undefeated after 14 starts, is owned by Jerry and Ann Moss and was trained by John Shirreffs.
"At first, Jerry was reluctant to accept our offer of renaming the race, because he was a personal friend of Gene Klein," said Chillingworth. "But after he and Ann thought about it for a couple of days, he called back and said they thought Zenyatta would be flattered by the comparison and to know that she was held in such high esteem."
>>Zenyatta's home track Hollywood Park will salute the daughter of Street Cry at Sunday's meeting, when she will parade between races. She won six times at the track.
