Santa Anita has announced the G1 Lady’s Secret Stakes will be renamed the Zenyatta Stakes.  The Street Cry mare won the race in 2008 and 2009 as her final lead-up to the Breeders’ Cup meeting.

The Lady’s Secret was inaugurated in 1993 and is open to fillies and mares over 1700m.  The decision was made in the wake of one of the most dramatic performance in Breeders’ Cup history.  Zenyatta was a devastating last-to-first winner of the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic earlier this month.

“We feel that what Zenyatta accomplished here on November 7 will go down as one of the all-time great achievements in American racing,” spokesman Sherwood Chillingworth said.

“Lady’s Secret was a great mare herself.  She won the Breeders’ Cup 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 we will never forget.

“Zenyatta should be Horse of the Year.  Her brilliance is undeniable and we are proud to rename this prestigious race in her honour.”

Lady’s Secret was owned by the late Eugene Klein and was trained by D. Wayne Lukas.  At first, Zenyatta’s owner Jerry Moss was reluctant to accept the offer because he was a personal friend of Gene Klein.  But he finally accepted because Zenyatta would be flattered by the comparison and to know that she was held in such high esteem.

Zenyatta’s win in the Classic climaxed a perfect 14-for-14 record and boosted her career earnings to $5.47 million.

Meanwhile, champion filly and Horse of the Year contender Rachel Alexandra has returned to training at Churchill Downs.

Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d’Oro) was undefeated in eight starts in 2009 and has not run since winning the Woodward Stakes (G1) at Saratoga on September 5.