Serengeti Empress digs in gamely to post upset win in Kentucky Oaks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The raw brilliance of Serengeti Empress came to the fore again Friday, when the speedy filly led all the way in the 145th running of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks, vindicating what had been a difficult decision for trainer Tom Amoss.

Ridden by Jose Ortiz, Serengeti Empress finished 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Liora in the filly classic at Churchill Downs, with Lady Apple another 5 1/2 lengths back in third. Bellafina, the 9-5 favorite in a full gate of 14 3-year-old fillies, finished fifth.

Serengeti Empress returned $28 after finishing the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:50.17 over a fast track.

Amoss, a winner of more than 3,600 races in a career dating to 1987, was emotional after the race, saying he was ecstatic that his elderly parents (94 and 93) were able to see the race on television in their hometown of New Orleans.

“So many emotions,” he said. “This filly, when she’s good, she’s really good.”

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Serengeti Empress had been sporadically spectacular, winning four of her seven prior starts. But the dark bay filly had been soundly defeated here last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, and of greater note, she had been eased in her prior start in the March 23 Fair Grounds Oaks when bleeding from her nostrils.

In the weeks leading into the Oaks, Amoss acknowledged that he would be subject to intense criticism if something untoward had occurred again on one of racing’s biggest stages – but in several key workouts toward the Oaks, Serengeti Empress showed the bleeding incident to be an anomaly, and Amoss moved forward accordingly.

On paper, Serengeti Empress appeared to be one of several fillies in the Oaks lineup with blazing early speed, but it wasn’t long after the gates were sprung that Ortiz had her comfortably ahead. Through fractions of 23.35 seconds, 46.65, and 1:11.26, Serengeti Empress held an open lead, and when Liora, a 38-1 shot under Channing Hill, came at her with a serious run in upper stretch, Ortiz put his mount to a steady drive, and the issue was sealed.

“When we got to the quarter pole, I started riding her,” said Ortiz, the 2017 Eclipse Award winner for outstanding jockey. “When she put her head down and took off, I said, ‘Man, she’s going to run big today.’ At the eighth pole, I hit her left-handed, and she gave me that second gear. From that point on, I knew I had it. She pinned her ears down and was gonna keep going.”

Serengeti Empress, from the second crop of sire Alternation, was purchased for $70,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September yearling sale by owner Joel Politi, an orthopedic surgeon in Columbus, Ohio.

Amoss, 57, had won three Grade 1 races in his career. “I’d never won a race this big in my life,” he said. “Granted, I’ve won a lot of races, but nothing like this.”

On a warm afternoon rendered sticky from heavy morning rain, and before a crowd of 105,719, Serengeti Empress was away sharply from post 13. Some 30 yards out of the gate, Jaywalk veered inward, and Positive Spirit clipped her heels. Positive Spirit fell, spilling jockey Manny Franco, but both were up quickly, fortunate to escape injury.

Meanwhile, up front, Serengeti Empress loped along uncontested, with Motion Emotion, Lady Apple, and Jaywalk giving closest chase.

“It kind of reminded me of the Pocahontas,” said Amoss, referring to a front-running, 19 1/2-length victory for the filly here last September. “She made the lead easy, and that was it. This filly is a great athlete.”

At the quarter pole, as it became apparent that only Liora had a chance to reel in Serengeti Empress, the others struggled. Lady Apple, a 10-1 shot who momentarily loomed a factor after straightening for home, held sway to be third, with Champagne Anyone rallying belatedly to finish a neck back in fourth.

Liora, a 27-1 winner of the Golden Rod here last fall for trainer Wayne Catalano, was gallant in defeat.

“Man, that was just heartbreaking,” said Hill, Catalano’s son-in-law. “She ran so good. I thought we had it. That was an amazing race. Wayne had her so ready to run, and we almost got there.”

Bellafina, fourth as the favorite behind Jaywalk last fall in the Juvenile Fillies, again had no punch. The filly had won all three prior starts this year at her home base of Santa Anita.

“I thought I was in a good spot, but when it was time to fire, she just didn’t,” said jockey Flavien Prat.

After Bellafina, the full order was Jaywalk, Street Band, Chocolate Kisses, Motion Emotion, Jeltrin, Out for a Spin, Flor de La Mar, and Restless Rider. Following a stewards’ inquiry, Jaywalk was disqualified to 13th for impeding Positive Spirit, although it was somewhat moot because the payoff for every finisher from sixth to 13th was the same ($12,500). Positive Spirit did not receive any purse money when failing to finish.

Both of the also-eligibles, Dunbar Road and Point of Honor, were early scratches.

The $2 exacta (13-9) paid $878.40, the $1 trifecta (13-9-3) returned $7,021.80, and the $1 superfecta (13-9-3-10) was worth $67,087.40.