Speedy Serengeti Empress gearing up for Test

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Guarana was certainly impressive drawing away to a six-length triumph in the Grade 1 Acorn last month at Belmont Park. But there was no shortage of rave reviews for runner-up Serengeti Empress following her courageous effort in defeat in the one-mile Acorn.

Serengeti Empress was pressed through mind-boggling early splits – a quarter-mile in 21.89 seconds, and a half in 43.99 – by Cookie Dough before succumbing to the winner in the final furlong of the Acorn. The Kentucky Oaks winner, Serengeti Empress finished 2 1/4 lengths clear of third-place Jeltrin while posting a 90 Beyer Speed Figure, two points higher than she received for her wire-to-wire victory in the Oaks.

Trainer Tom Amoss will turn Serengeti Empress back in distance when she makes her Saratoga debut on Aug. 3 in the seven-furlong Test. The speedy filly looked sharp in her first local work when breezing an easy four furlongs in 46.79 over the main track early Sunday morning.

“You’re always a little concerned with the first work up here because the surface is a little deeper than where I come from, but I thought she handled it well,” said Amoss. “Overall the appearance of the work, at least to me, was eye-catching. She’s so athletic. You can see that just by watching her work.”

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Amoss said he is eagerly looking forward to sending Serengeti Empress out in the Grade 1 Test while making no bones about his strategy for the race.

“The Test is going to be exciting for us,” said Amoss. “The way she wins her races is by using her speed and I don’t expect anything different in that race. I just hope we can get a little cleaner break than she got in the Acorn.”

Amoss said Serengeti Empress bounced out of her grueling effort in the Acorn in excellent fashion. He recalled his emotions as he watched the race unfold.

“Every time Larry Collmus announced another split, you could hear an audible groan from the crowd they were going so fast,” said Amoss. “She was so courageous. Nothing against the winner, she’s a really good one, but she did get things the way she needed to make her late run while we had such a tough time up front.”

Amoss came right back on Monday morning with another of the speedsters in his barn, sending Uncontested out to work five furlongs from the half-mile pole in 59.27 and gallop out six furlongs in 1:12.69. Uncontested, winner of the Grade 3 General George last winter at Laurel, joined Amoss’s stable this spring and is coming off a fourth-place finish as the 6-5 favorite in the Kelly’s Landing Stakes at Churchill Downs.