Serengeti Empress Cruises in Rachel Alexandra
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Photo: Hodges Photography / Britt Benson
Serengeti Empress heads for home in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course
Dr. Joel Politi's Serengeti Empress returned to the monster form she showed prior to last fall's Tito's Handmade Vodka Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) with a 4 1/2-length score in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) Feb. 16 at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. The daughter of Alternation went gate-to-wire in the 1 1/16-mile race, getting the trip in 1:44.74.
James Graham was aboard for trainer Tom Amoss as Serengeti Empress earned 50 points toward the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), and she now sits in the No. 1 spot on the Kentucky Oaks Leaderboard with 60 points overall.
Serengeti Empress broke sharply and set solid splits of :24.02 for the opening quarter-mile and :47.81 for the half-mile while cruising ahead of a tracking Molto Bella and Liora. The six furlongs clicked off in 1:12.45, and the mile went in 1:37.89.
Liora, who tracked the leader for most of the race, finished second and gained 20 points toward the Oaks. She finished 1 1/4 lengths ahead of Eres Tu, who was third (10 points). It was 2 1/2 lengths back to Street Band in fourth (5 points). Bell's the One and Chasing Yesterday were scratched.
The 9-5 favorite, Serengeti Empress paid $5.80, $4, and $3.60. Liora returned $16.20 and $9.80, and Eres Tu paid $7. The $2 3-5 exacta returned $105.80.
"The track was playing toward speed," Amoss said. "James did a great job of getting the lead and then slowing it down. I noticed around the three-eighths pole he really slowed it down. I knew she'd be tough from there."
Last year, Serengeti Empress won the Ellis Park Debutante Stakes by 13 1/2 lengths and then crushed her rivals in Churchill Downs' Pocahontas Stakes (G2) by 19 1/2 lengths. She finished seventh in the Breeders' Cup and was given a break. She returned to Amoss' care just after Christmas, and he brought her along consistently toward her first outing in 2019.
The winner was bred in Kentucky out of the Bernardini mare Havisham by Tri Eques Bloodstock. Amoss and Politi purchased her for $70,000 from Brookdale Sales' consignment to the 2017 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The $120,000 first prize pushed her earnings to $327,870. She has four wins from six starts.
Serengeti Empress drilled five furlongs in 1:02 4/5 Feb. 3 and came back Feb. 9 with a quicker 1:00 4/5 move to set her up for the Rachel Alexandra, a prep for the March 23 TwinSpires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) at the same 1 1/16-mile trip.
"She's a real strong traveler in the morning," Graham said. "Tom has done an unbelievable job with her."