Amoss aims to get Serengeti Empress past bleeding episode
Trainer Tom Amoss said Sunday that Serengeti Empress is “fine this morning” after the filly bled in her breathing passages when fading to last in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2). While the daughter of Alternation will travel with Amoss’ string to Churchill Downs, her status moving forward to the Kentucky Oaks hasn’t been determined.
“We’re thinking about, what’s the best solution to get a horse that’s never bled over an episode where she actually bled through Lasix?” Amoss said. “That’s what we’re focusing on, not what the next race would be.
“At this point, it’s one day after it happened, and we’re not ready to make any decisions like that.”
Campaigned by Joel Politi, Serengeti Empress has flashed brilliance on the front end of a number of her races, winning the Ellis Park Debutante by 13 1/2 lengths and Churchill’s Pocahontas (G2) by 19 1/2. Back at 3, her season opened with a geared-down 4 1/2-length score in the Rachel Alexandra Stakes (G2) at Fair Grounds leading into Saturday’s final prep.
Serengeti Empress settled into an ideal trip in the Fair Grounds Oaks, breaking like a shot to lead through opening comfortable fractions of 24.12 seconds for the quarter mile and 47.48 for the half. She began to fade inside the five-sixteenths and was stopped by jockey James Graham.
Amoss said it could be two weeks or more before next steps are plotted for the filly.