Catch Serengeti Empress if you can in Fair Grounds Oaks

NEW ORLEANS – Tom Amoss grew up in this city, so it was particularly meaningful when the trainer won the Fair Grounds Oaks for the first time last year with the longshot Chocolate Martini. He’s hoping the good times keep rolling on Saturday in this year’s Grade 2, $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks, as he sends out the heavily favored Serengeti Empress in this key prep for the Kentucky Oaks on May 3.

Serengeti Empress comes off the best performance of her career, a dominating 4 1/2-length victory in the Rachel Alexandra, which, like the Fair Grounds Oaks, is at 1 1/16 miles. She got a 91 Beyer Speed Figure, eight points superior to anyone else in the field, and it was earned off what looked like an abbreviated work tab.

Serengeti Empress has won four of six starts and has crushed her rivals in all those victories, with her winning margins ranging from 4 1/2 lengths to 19 1/2 lengths. She is a free-running filly, and Amoss acknowledged “there’s no secret” as to tactics.

“We’re going right to the front,” he said.

Serengeti Empress has grown up over the winter, Amoss said. The Rachel Alexandra was her first start since a seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

“Physically, when I say she’s a stronger version of herself, she’s more developed – her hind end as well as her shoulder, they’ve got a bigger, stronger look to them,” Amoss said on a national teleconference this week.

Liora, Eres Tu, and Street Band – who finished second through fourth while chasing Serengeti Empress in the Rachel Alexandra – are back to try again. New rivals include Sweet Diane, third in the Suncoast at Tampa Bay Downs last month, and California invader Slewgoodtobetrue, unbeaten in two starts around two turns after a pair of sprints.

The Fair Grounds Oaks is worth 170 points overall – with 100 for first and 40 for second – under the system used by Churchill Downs to determine the field for the Kentucky Oaks. It is race 12 on the 13-race card.

KEY CONTENDERS

Serengeti Empress, by Alternation
Last 3 Beyers: 91-66-78

◗ She already has enough points to be in the Oaks, including the 50 earned in the Rachel Alexandra.

◗ James Graham rode her for the first time in the Rachel Alexandra and is back aboard.

Liora, by Candy Ride
Last 3 Beyers: 83-61-75

◗ She was a distant second in the Rachel Alexandra and adds blinkers for this.

Eres Tu, by Malibu Moon
Last 3 Beyers: 82-74-69

◗ Jose Ortiz takes over on this filly, who is graded stakes-placed but owns only a victory against maidens.

Sweet Diane, by Will Take Charge
Last 3 Beyers: 73-78-74

◗ Trainer Mike Stidham is hoping someone softens up Serengeti Empress early.

“We’ll have a hard time beating her if she repeats her last,” Stidham said. “When she controls the pace, she’s tough.”

Slewgoodtobetrue, by Jimmy Creed
Last 3 Beyers: 70-70-76

◗ She has been visually impressive in both of her route wins and might be better than the speed figures indicate.