The Fair Grounds Oaks is a race for Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 horses run in April at Fair Grounds Race Course

Fair Grounds Race Course

Fair Grounds Race Course, often known as New Orleans Fair Grounds, is a thoroughbred racetrack and racino in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is operated by Churchill Downs Louisiana Horseracing Company, LLC....

 each year. The Grade II

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 Oaks is open to fillies

Filly

A filly is a young female horse too young to be called a mare. There are several specific definitions in use.*In most cases filly is a female horse under the age of four years old....

, age three, willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt, and offers a purse of $400,000. The Fair Grounds Oaks is one of the key prep races leading to the Kentucky Oaks

Kentucky Oaks

The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers 1⅛ miles at Churchill Downs; the horses carry 121 pounds . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year...

 each year.

The race was inaugurated in 1966. It was first graded in 1982 as was run as a grade three race from 1982-2000. In the year 2000 the race was upgraded to a grade two race. The race was not held in 1979 and in 2006 the race was cancelled due to massive damage inflicted upon Fair Grounds Race Course by Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...

. The race was run as the Coca-Cola Fair Ground Oaks in 1989 and 1990. In 1977 the race was run twice, in both March and December.

The race has produced numerous Kentucky Oaks

Kentucky Oaks

The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers 1⅛ miles at Churchill Downs; the horses carry 121 pounds . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year...

 winners, including Tiffany Lass, Blushing K.D., Silverbulletday

Silverbulletday

Silverbulletday is an American Thoroughbred Champion Filly racehorse. Bred in Kentucky, she was sired by Silver Deputy and out of the GII winning mare Rokeby Rose. Her damsire was Tom Rolfe, the 1965 Preakness Stakes winner and that year's U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt...

, Ashado

Ashado

Ashado is American Thoroughbred mare racehorse. Highly successful in racing, she is a two-time Eclipse Award winner. At the end of the 2005 racing season her owner group, which included trainer Todd Pletcher, Paul Saylor, Johns Martin, and Mr. & Mrs...

, Summerly, Proud Spell and Rachel Alexandra

Rachel Alexandra

Rachel Alexandra is a retired American Thoroughbred filly racehorse and the 2009 Horse of the Year. She is renowned as the May 16, 2009 Preakness Stakes winner, the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the first filly to win the race in 85 years history...

.

Records

Speed record:

• 1-1/16 miles - 1:42.20 - Blushing K. D. (1997)

Most wins by a jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

:

• 3 - Donnie Meche
  Donnie Meche
  Donnie James Meche is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.Donnie Meche won his first race at Evangeline Downs in May 1993...
  
    (1997, 2000 & 2003)

Winners of the Fair Grounds Oaks since 1995

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Distance (Miles)	Time	Grade
2011	Daisy Divine	3	James Graham	Andrew McKeever	James M. Miller	1-1/16	1:44.25	II
2010	Quiet Temper	3	Robby Albarado Robby Albarado Robby J. Albarado is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 12 at bush tracks in his native Louisiana and after turning professional, earned his first win at Evangeline Downs in 1990...	Dale Romans	Mark Stanley	1-1/16	1:44.55	II
2009	Rachel Alexandra Rachel Alexandra Rachel Alexandra is a retired American Thoroughbred filly racehorse and the 2009 Horse of the Year. She is renowned as the May 16, 2009 Preakness Stakes winner, the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the first filly to win the race in 85 years history...	3	Calvin Borel Calvin Borel Calvin H. Borel is an American jockey in thoroughbred horse racing and rode the victorious mount in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, the 2009 Kentucky Derby and the 2010 Kentucky Derby...	Hal R. Wiggins	D. Morrison/M. Lauffer	1-1/16	1:43.55	II
2008	Proud Spell	3	Gabriel Saez Gabriel Saez Gabriel Saez is a Panamanian horse racing jockey. He began his riding career in his native country in 2004, becoming the leading apprentice jockey in 2005. Saez moved to the United States in February, 2006, and almost instantly became Delaware Park Racetrack's leading jockey that same year...	J. Larry Jones J. Larry Jones J. Larry Jones is an American Thoroughbred horse racing trainer. A former commercial farmer, he embarked on a career as a professional trainer in 1982....	Brereton C. Jones	1-1/16	1:44.01	II
2007	Mistical Plan	3	Corey Nakatani Corey Nakatani Corey S. Nakatani is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He got his big break in 1990 when he rode Itsallgreektome to win big stakes races.Nakatani currently resides at Belmont Park...	Doug F. O'Neill	J. Paul Reddam J. Paul Reddam John Paul Reddam B.A. M.A. Ph.D. is a former professor of philosophy at California State University, Los Angeles and a businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse owner.Known by his middle name, J...	1-1/16	1:44.02	II
2006	No Race	-	No Race	No Race	No Race	no race	0:00.00	II
2005	Summerly Summerly (horse) Summerly is an American Thoroughbred fillyracehorse best known for winning the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks in 2005. She was sired by 1990 Preakness Stakes winner, Summer Squall and out of the Mr. Prospector mare, Here I Go....	3	Jerry D. Bailey	Steve Asmussen Steve Asmussen Steven Mark Asmussen is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Born into a horse racing family, his parents, Keith and Marilyn "Sis" Asmussen, are both trainers who operate El Primero Training Center off the Mines Road in Laredo, the seat of Webb County in south Texas...	Winchell Thoroughbreds Verne Winchell Vernon Hedges "Verne" Winchell was the founder of Winchell's Donuts.On October 8, 1948 he opened his first donut shop in Temple City, California and earned the nickname "The Donut King" while making a fortune with a chain of Winchell's-branded donut shops in the western United States during the...	1-1/16	1:43.79	II
2004	Ashado Ashado Ashado is American Thoroughbred mare racehorse. Highly successful in racing, she is a two-time Eclipse Award winner. At the end of the 2005 racing season her owner group, which included trainer Todd Pletcher, Paul Saylor, Johns Martin, and Mr. & Mrs...	3	Cornelio Velasquez Cornelio Velásquez Cornelio H. Velásquez is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He was introduced to horse racing at age fifteen by trainer Carlos Salazar Guardia in his native Panama and enrolled in the national jockey school...	Todd A. Pletcher	Jonabell Farm	1-1/16	1:43.07	II
2003	Lady Tak	3	Donnie Meche Donnie Meche Donnie James Meche is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.Donnie Meche won his first race at Evangeline Downs in May 1993...	Steve Asmussen Steve Asmussen Steven Mark Asmussen is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer. Born into a horse racing family, his parents, Keith and Marilyn "Sis" Asmussen, are both trainers who operate El Primero Training Center off the Mines Road in Laredo, the seat of Webb County in south Texas...	Heiligbrodt Racing	1-1/16	1:44.36	II
2002	Take Charge Lady	3	Anthony D'Amico	Kenneth McPeek Kenneth McPeek Kenneth G. McPeek is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Kenneth G. McPeek was born August 2, 1962 in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. He graduated from Tates Creek High School and then the University of Kentucky with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration...	Select Stable	1-1/16	1:43.30	II
2001	Real Cozzy	3	Eddie Martin, Jr.	Daniel Peitz	Lawana & Robert Low	1-1/16	1:44.58	II
2000	Shawnee Country	3	Donnie Meche Donnie Meche Donnie James Meche is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.Donnie Meche won his first race at Evangeline Downs in May 1993...	D. Wayne Lukas D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas is a former educator who became one of the most successful horse trainers in American Thoroughbred horse racing history and a U.S...	Overbrook Farm	1-1/16	1:44.81	III
1999	Silverbulletday Silverbulletday Silverbulletday is an American Thoroughbred Champion Filly racehorse. Bred in Kentucky, she was sired by Silver Deputy and out of the GII winning mare Rokeby Rose. Her damsire was Tom Rolfe, the 1965 Preakness Stakes winner and that year's U.S. Champion 3-Yr-Old Colt...	3	Gary L. Stevens	Bob Baffert Bob Baffert Robert A. "Bob" Baffert is an American horse owner and trainer, whose horses have won three Kentucky Derbies, five Preakness Stakes, one Belmont Stakes and two Kentucky Oaks. He graduated from the University of Arizona's with a Bachelor of Science degree. -Early career:Bob Baffert began his...	Mike Pegram	1-1/16	1:44.99	III
1998	Lu Ravi	3	Willie Martinez Willie Martinez Willie Martinez may refer to:*Willie Martínez , baseball pitcher*Willie Martinez , horse racing jockey*Willie Martinez , defensive backs coach*Willie Martinez , jazz trap drummer-See also:...			1-1/16	1:43.70	III
1997	Blushing K. D.	3	Donnie Meche Donnie Meche Donnie James Meche is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.Donnie Meche won his first race at Evangeline Downs in May 1993...			1-1/16	1:42.20	III
1996	Bright Time	3	L. F. Diaz			1-1/16	1:45.98	III
1995	Brushing Gloom	3	J. Brown			1-1/16	1:45.12	III

Previous Winners

• 1994 – Two Altazano
• 1993 – Silky Feather
• 1992 – Prospectors Delite
  Prospectors Delite
  Prospectors Delite was a Kentucky bred thoroughbred born in 1989. Out of a Hoist the Flag mare, Up the Flagpole, and the daughter of one the century’s greatest sires, Mr...
  
  
• 1991 – Rare Pick