Azeri rematch a doozy; Lady Apple perfect over track

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The last time Lady Apple, Serengeti Empress, Street Band, and Mylady Curlin met they battled through the stretch and finished a length apart.

The rivalry will be renewed Saturday at Oaklawn Park when all four return in the Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri. The mile and a sixteenth race is one of three stakes on the Rebel Day card and it’s expected to produce starters for the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom here April 18.

The Azeri drew a field of seven fillies and mares. Lady Apple will vie for favoritism after her half-length win in the Grade 3 Houston Ladies Classic on Jan. 26.

“She defeated two Grade 1 winners in what was probably her most impressive race to date,” said trainer Steve Asmussen.

Serengeti Empress, who won last year’s Kentucky Oaks, finished second in the Houston Ladies Classic. It was another neck back in third to Street Band, the winner of last year’s Grade 1 Cotillion at Parx.

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Tom Amoss, who trains front-running Serengeti Empress, said he wishes he could have a do-over of the Houston Ladies Classic.

“We slowed the pace down so much that we kept the whole field in the race,” he said. “We are not going to do that this time around. We’re going to set legit fractions and hope that makes a difference.”

Larry Jones co-owns and trains millionaire Street Band, and he would like a different kind of trip than his filly had in the Houston Ladies Classic.

“I thought she ran farther than everybody else,” Jones said of being hung out wide from post 6. “We had a very unfortunate trip.

“I’ve run a number of horses at Houston and losing ground there is not a good thing.”

Street Band will start from the fence in the Azeri.

“The rail is fine with me,” Jones said. “Hopefully, we get her covered up.”

Sophie Doyle will ride Street Band, who also races for Ray Francis, Cindy Jones, Medallion Racing, and MyRacehorse.

Joe Talamo will be aboard Serengeti Empress from post 5 for owner Joel Politi.

Serengeti Empress, who last year was an Eclipse Award finalist for champion 3-year-old filly, has won races from 5 1/2 furlongs to a mile and an eighth. She leads the Azeri cast in earnings with $1.5 million.

“She has two components,” Amoss said. “God-given talent and a mindset that is easygoing and that works well both in training and racing.”

Lady Apple, who can become a millionaire Saturday, will break from post 4 under regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr. He’s been aboard for all of her starts at Oaklawn, where she is 3 for 3. Lady Apple’s wins include the Grade 3 Fantasy last April, a race that propelled her to a third-place finish in the Kentucky Oaks.

“I remember at the Oaks, noticing she was the youngest horse,” Asmussen said of the May foal. “She has improved.

“She’s a very good mover, light on her feet, and I think she’s a serious mare that will definitely be around for a while.”

Lady Apple is a five-time winner at the distance of the Azeri, among those victories the Houston Ladies Classic, Fantasy, Grade 3 Iowa Oaks, and Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks. She races for her breeder, KatieRich Farms, and Phoenix Thoroughbred III.

Mylady Curlin finished a neck behind Street Band in fourth in the Houston Ladies Classic, while earning her best career Beyer Speed Figure, a 95. She won the Grade 2 Falls City Handicap last November at Churchill Downs. Trainer Brad Cox has given the mount to Joel Rosario.

The field is completed by Awe Emma, supplement Rahway, and Saracosa, who was fifth in the Houston Ladies Classic.