Serengeti Empress Could Provide Tribute for Lanerie

Corey Lanerie's heart sits right on his throat, embroidered in pink thread on the collar of his undershirt.

He is, remarkably, his usual composed self when he speaks of his life now, barely five months since he took his wife to the emergency room and then lost her a day later.

Shantel Lanerie's battle with stage 1 breast cancer was one she appeared to winning—she was playing tennis only days before she was diagnosed with sepsis, the complication that ultimately claimed her June 22 at the age of 42—and every day her husband of 21 years takes to the saddle, he carries her determination with him.

The phrase "Fight with Shantel" peeks out from the shirt beneath Lanerie's silks, a constant reminder the wins and losses the veteran jockey endures have been put in their proper perspective. Honoring his wife's memory has become his modus operandi. And when he takes to the track that has been his home base this weekend, he'll have a significant opportunity to deliver a most stirring of tributes.

Less than two months after going through the most brutal of personal hardships, Lanerie was paired with the filly Serengeti Empress for the first time and proceeded to craft a relationship that has brought them to the Nov. 2 Tito's Handmade Vodka Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Churchill Downs with a chance to earn a victory that would leave few beneath the Twin Spires without a dry eye.

"It would put a light on whatever has been happening in our lives this past year," Lanerie said. "It would brighten things up a whole lot."

For all the riding titles on his résumé, a victory in the Breeders' Cup has eluded Lanerie, who has a winless record from five starts in the event, with his best finishes a pair of third-place runs aboard Brody's Cause  and Dothraki Queen in the 2015 Juvenile (G1) and Juvenile Fillies, respectively. Nowhere is the Louisiana native more dangerous, however, than at the historic Louisville oval where he has won 15 meet titles. And when he guided Serengeti Empress to a 19 1/2-length victory there in the Sept. 15 Pocahontas Stakes (G2), the journeyman rider found himself in the position to have one of the favorites for the $2 million test that will likely decide divisional honors.

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The Churchill grounds are more than just Lanerie's favorite professional playground. Rather, they house a community of peers and friends who held Shantel up as one of their backbones of a wider support system.

Her Cajun-based home cooking was second only to the warmth and hospitality she doled out generously to their racetrack family and beyond. And when she departed, leaving behind her stalwart husband and their 10-year-old daughter Brittlyn, Lanerie found himself surrounded by comrades who let him know he wasn't in this latest fight solo.

"It was amazing. Every racetrack from every state seemed to pitch in and call, and it was just overwhelming support," said Lanerie, who is also slated to ride graded stakes winner Awesome Slew in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1). "As much as we compete against each other on the track, and sometimes we may not like each other out there, off the track we're such a big family and care so much about each other."

Getting back to that track routine has been key for Lanerie, as he and his daughter work their way through the moving-on process. Fifteen days after Shantel's passing, he returned to riding and picked up a mount on Con Te Partiro in the Modesty Handicap (G3T) at Arlington International Racecourse. When he shifted his tack to the Ellis Park meeting, the 43-year-old piloted Hide the Honey to victory July 13—his first win since Shantel's passing and first of what would be a meet-leading 30 wins.

Not returning to the saddle was never a thought for Lanerie. He financially needs to still provide for himself and Brittlyn, but he also needs to do right by Shantel by going on with life in the manner she would expect.

"Obviously the time off, when I stayed home for a little while, was really good—just being around friends and stuff," Lanerie said. "But to come back to work and just kind of start back your life again ... it's like a normal part of your life, which kind of makes things move a little bit faster. It helps, you know?"

The Ellis Park meet not only helped Lanerie regain his emotional footing, it also sparked a partnership that may bring him a career-best moment.

Trainer Tom Amoss knew he had a talent on his hands when Joe Politi's Serengeti Empress broke her maiden by 5 1/2 lengths first time out at Indiana Grand Race Course July 4, and after a fourth-place run in the Schuylerville Stakes (G3) at Saratoga Race Course, in which jockey Javier Castellano lost his whip coming into the stretch, he was grateful to be able to turn to one of his longtime reinsmen to handle the daughter of Alternation  in the Ellis Park Debutante Stakes.

With Lanerie in the irons, Serengeti Empress turned the outing in glorified workout. She cruised to a gate-to-wire, 13 1/2 length triumph in the Aug. 19 race. The word "freak" gets bandied about frequently in racing circles, but when the dark bay filly duplicated that effort during the demolition that was her frontrunning Pochahontas win, few other descriptors seemed to do that outing justice.

BLOODHORSE STAFF: Serengeti Empress Rebounds in Ellis Park Debutante

"I'm hesitant to use (freak). I do think we have a very, very good horse," said Amoss, who is also seeking his first Breeders' Cup win this weekend. "(The Juvenile Fillies) is going to tell us a lot, because quite frankly, of the young-horse divisions, I think (the) 2-year-old fillies dirt race is by far the toughest of all the divisions. Something has to give. All these fillies want to control the race and dominate their opponent.

"But she gets to walk out of her stall and run on a track that she is very familiar with, and she has a rider in Corey Lanerie that has won the title here too many times to count."

Having known Corey and Shantel Lanerie for as long as he has, Amoss is one who still finds it challenging to have to speak about the former now without mentioning the latter. As much as he personally would treasure having Breeders' Cup hardware in his possession, he would be equally humbled if his barn and one of his own was a conduit for an emotional dedication.

"They were one of those couples that were inseparable," Amoss said. "They really did so much together. She worked at the track, as well, so you'd see her quite a bit, and it's hard to comment on a situation like that if you haven't had to go through it yourself. I know in speaking to Corey that he would love to make this a signature win that he could dedicate to her, and if that happens, I feel like both myself and the owner would be honored to be part of that."

The question of how he's doing these days is met by Lanerie with a cautiously positive response. Overall, he's good, navigating life as a single dad and balancing the parental lines he must hold against the angst he knows his daughter is feeling.

"Obviously it has affected her. It seems like we can't do things right for her a lot, but we all know why and what she's going through," Lanerie said of his daughter. "I can't imagine losing my mom at 10-years-old. We just try and deal with her and keep her happy and keep her grounded also, but with boundaries. You can't just give into her. It's kind of a fine line."

He's not doing it alone. His mother has come up from Louisiana and has basically moved into his Louisville home to take up the role of a second parent—getting Brittlyn ready for school, meeting her at the bus, handling laundry, and whatever else her son and grandchild need in terms of support.

It is still hard for those who knew them to imagine Lanerie going through his big-race motions this week without Shantel lockstep by his side. Again, though, he will tell you he is not alone.

She's right there, on his heart and in his mind, pushing him as always to be his best self.

"We've been chasing these kind of races my whole career, and to be able to ride in it and have one of the favorites, it's such an exciting feeling," Lanerie said. "And to be able to win it, if it happens, I'm probably going to give (Shantel) all the credit. I would hope that's what it is."