Serengeti Empress' camp 'transparent as we can be' on Kentucky Oaks

Joel Politi’s filly Serengeti Empress is training toward a possible start in the Kentucky Oaks, but trainer Tom Amoss said a final decision on whether she’ll be in the starting gate on May 3 has not been made.

The odds-on favorite in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) on March 23, with jockey James Graham up, bled for the first time and was vanned off. Amoss had her on the sealed Churchill track just past 5 a.m. Saturday, and she’s expected to breeze Tuesday.

“I’m not going to take her to the track for training hours for the Derby and Oaks horses until I’m convinced that she’s going to run in the Oaks, and right now that’s up in the air,” Amoss said. “She’s going to breeze on Tuesday, that’s the tentative plan, and if it goes well, and she doesn’t bleed, then we’re going to plan on running, and she’ll start wearing the Oaks towel.

“She’s been training well, and training well here. We’re trying to be as transparent as we can be, so we’ve been putting everything on Twitter (@TomAmossRacing), because what we don’t want is to run a horse who’s not at her best.

"We want the world to see what we’re doing, and to know that we’re putting the horse first. It’s the Kentucky Oaks, and we’d love to be a part of it, but we’re not going to put it ahead of the horse’s health.”