Serengeti Empress has Into Mischief colt

Owner Joel Politi and trainer Tom Amoss teamed to win the Groupie Doll Stakes on Sunday with Li’l Tootsie. It was Politi’s first stakes win at Ellis Park in five years and came nearly five years to the day that a dark bay filly, also trained by Amoss, carried Politi’s silks to victory in the Ellis Park Debutante. That was the first of six stakes victories for Serengeti Empress, highlighted by Grade 1 wins in the 2019 Kentucky Oaks and 2020 Ballerina Stakes.

Serengeti Empress, who earned more than $2.1 million while placing in six other graded stakes, retired at the end of her 2020 campaign. She is boarded for Politi at Taylor Made Farm in Nicholasville, Ky., and delivered her first foal, a colt by leading sire Into Mischief, early this year.

“She’s a momma,” Politi said. “She’s doing fine. We didn’t breed her back this year – she had a little trouble with her foaling, so we just gave her the year off. But she’s doing great. She’s healthy and happy, and so is the little man.”

Politi said he has not yet decided whether this colt will be retained to race in his colors or will be entered in a 2023 yearling sale.

“I’ve got a whole year to decide that,” he said.