Fair Grounds renames stakes for Rachel Alexandra

Not two hours after Rachel Alexandra was retired Tuesday, Fair Grounds renamed one of its major races in her honor.

The Silverbulletday Stakes, the New Orleans’ track’s prep race for the Fair Grounds Oaks, and scheduled for Feb. 19 in 2011, now will be called the Rachel Alexandra Stakes. The former Tiffany Lass Stakes, scheduled for Jan. 22 next year, has been renamed the Silverbulletday Stakes. Tiffany Lass, winner of the 1986 Kentucky Oaks, is out of the Fair Grounds stakes cycle.

Rachel Alexandra made two starts at Fair Grounds, though she trained there throughout this past winter. Trained by Hal Wiggins, she cruised to victory in the Fair Grounds Oaks in 2009, but Rachel Alexandra suffered a surprising defeat at the hands of Zardana this past March in the New Orleans Ladies, her first start of 2010.