Serengeti Empress Aims to Build on Success in Acorn

After their filly returned to good health in time to post an upset victory in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), the connections of Serengeti Empress hope she can build on that success June 8 in the $700,000 Acorn Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park.

Exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage in the Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) caused Serengeti Empress to finish last of seven, but trainer Tom Amoss nursed the daughter of Alternation  back to health in time to deliver her best in the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Oaks.

In that May 3 test at Churchill Downs, Joel Politi's Serengeti Empress opened a three-length lead early under Jose Ortiz and safely held off a stretch challenge from Liora to post a 1 3/4-length score. The frontrunning effort earned an Equibase Speed Figure of 103, the best to date for the three-time graded stakes winner. 

On Saturday, Serengeti Empress—who drew the rail in the expected field of nine 3-year-old fillies—will cut back to the one-turn mile at Belmont. 

The field includes other successful early runners like Arindel's Cookie Dough, who enters off a front-end score in the 1 1/8-mile Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) May 17 at Pimlico Race Course; Fancy Dress Party, who won the seven-furlong Beaumont Stakes (G3) after leading at every point of call in the April 7 race at Keeneland; and Three Chimneys Farm's speedy Guarana, who turned heads with a 14 3/4-length victory in her maiden special debut April 19 at Keeneland.

Amoss expects added early speed to be a challenge for his filly in the Acorn.

"The Acorn is a one-turn mile, and when you start backing up in distance, particularly when you go from two turns to one turn, you're inviting speed into the race," Amoss said. "And certainly it's Serengeti Empress' strong suit that she has speed she can carry around a route of ground. But now shortening up and going into a one-turn race, which is what we are doing with the Acorn, you're going to be asking a lot of Serengeti Empress if you want her to go to the front and maintain against what is probably more pure speed than we saw in the Kentucky Oaks.

"Having said that, I don't think you can go into a race like that and say, 'Hey, we're going to be on the lead,' and certainly we did make that statement leading the Kentucky Oaks. We made no secret of our plans and where we were going to be, and it worked out great. It's different now, and we recognize that. Serengeti Empress will still be prominent, of course, and if she's on the lead, then she's on the lead, but we're not married to it as we were going into the Kentucky Oaks. We're going to see how the race unfolds."

Though Serengeti Empress is the lone grade 1 winner in the field, Guarana's debut win caught the eye of New York Racing Association handicapper David Aragona, who projected her as the 2-1 favorite on his morning line. 

The effort, and likely the fact she's trained by Chad Brown, also was enough to lure Jose Ortiz for the Acorn. Ortiz was aboard for the impressive maiden win and will stick with the daughter of Ghostzapper  while his brother, Irad Ortiz Jr., moves to Serengeti Empress.

Also making her stakes debut in the Acorn is Bo Hirsch's Ce Ce, who ships in from Southern California for trainer Michael McCarthy after a clear win in her April 12 maiden debut followed by a close second in an allowance/optional claimer May 11, both at Santa Anita Park.

Entries: Acorn S. (G1)

Belmont Park, Saturday, June 08, 2019, Race 7

• Grade I
• 1m
• Dirt
• $700,000
• 3 yo Fillies
• 3:22 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Serengeti Empress (KY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	123	Thomas M. Amoss	5/2
2	2Jeltrin (KY)	Leonel Reyes	121	Alexis Delgado	12/1
3	3Cookie Dough (FL)	Javier Castellano	117	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	6/1
4	4Bell's the One (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	117	Neil L. Pessin	20/1
5	5Fancy Dress Party (KY)	Joel Rosario	121	Ben Colebrook	10/1
6	6Proud Emma (KY)	Flavien Prat	115	Peter Miller	20/1
7	7Guarana (KY)	Jose L. Ortiz	115	Chad C. Brown	2/1
8	8Queen of Beas (KY)	Manuel Franco	117	Jorge R. Abreu	12/1
9	9Ce Ce (KY)	Victor Espinoza	115	Michael W. McCarthy	9/2