Serengeti Empress Rebounds in Ellis Park Debutante
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Photo: Steve Kweskin
Serengeti Empress wins the Ellis Park Debutante by 13 1/2 lengths
Trainer Tom Amoss loved Serengeti Empress even before the 2-year-old filly won her first start by 5 1/2 lengths July 4 at Indiana Grand. After a disappointing fourth-place finish in Saratoga Race Course's Schuylerville Stakes (G3), the daughter of Alternation rolled to a 13 1/2-length laugher over the late-running Include Edition in the $75,000 Ellis Park Debutante.
"We classified her as one of the best in the barn," Amoss said by phone from New York after her impressive effort.
"A big disappointment at Saratoga when (Javier) Castellano dropped the stick on her and just quit riding her," he said. "I've never figured out what went wrong in that race. But she came back to show what she was today."
With jockey Corey Lanerie aboard, Serengeti Empress led through testing fractions of :22.21 for a quarter-mile, :45.29 for the half, and 1:09.66 for three-quarters of a mile before finishing the seven furlongs in 1:22.29. She paid $4.80 as the 7-5 favorite in the field of 11 juvenile fillies.
"My filly broke really well right from the gate," Lanerie said. "She was in hand pretty much all the way around there. When I got to the quarter pole, I kind of pushed the button and she went on and finished all the way to the wire. I had plenty left on the gallop-out. She was so far in front by herself that I think she was getting a little lost. I was keeping her busy. But she didn't need any encouragement today. She was going to win.
"The sky's the limit, I think. Tom has done a fantastic job with her, him and his team. I'm sure he'll get her as far as he can go and do his best. She's a good one."
Amoss bought Serengeti Empress for $70,000 for Joel Politi of Columbus, Ohio, at the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. He said the filly will return to his Churchill Downs base and could be pointed for the Pocahontas Stakes (G2), whose winner gets an automatic berth and entry fees paid in the Nov. 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), also at the Louisville track.
Asked what he liked about Serengeti Empress before she ran, Amoss said: "Super intelligent. Went through all of her drills without blinking an eye. I mean, every time we challenged her she was up to it. So when we made her first start with her, it was more because that's where the maiden race (at Indiana Grand) appeared at that time. We wanted to go to Saratoga, which we kind of pushed that issue together because they were close together. Just happened to have a maiden race at Indiana Grand as opposed to Ellis, so that's where we ended up."