Serengeti Empress no worse for wear following game Ballerina win

Trainer Tom Amoss reported that Joel Politi's Serengeti Empress was in good order the morning after her hard-fought victory in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga Race Course.

The 4-year-old daughter of Alternation earned an automatic berth toward the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on November 7 at Keeneland with a victory in the Ballerina, which was a Breeders' Cup "Win And You're In" event.

"She looked good. I was surprised she wasn't more tired," Amoss said.

Serengeti Empress earned her first Grade 1 victory since winning last year's Kentucky Oaks and gave Amoss his first Grade 1 win at the Spa since Heritage of Gold won the Go for Wand in 2000.

A five-time graded stakes winner over four different tracks at distances ranging from seven to nine furlongs, Amoss believes that Serengeti Empress is more suited for the seven-furlong distance.

"I think it had a lot to do with the distance of the race," Amoss said. "It really suits her and I'm not so sure she hasn't always been a good middle distance horse. We were fortunate going into the Kentucky Oaks."

Last summer, Serengeti Empress was second in the Grade 1 Test at the Spa, where she engaged in a dramatic stretch battle with eventual Champion 3-Year-Old Filly and Champion Female Sprinter Covfefe.

Serengeti Empress arrived at the Ballerina off a swift half-mile work over the Saratoga main track.

"I think she thrives up here," Amoss said. "Not only in her work patterns but daily gallops. Her brightness of coat is strong and there are lot of things that I like about how she looks right now. Yesterday was a great day. All that was missing yesterday were the fans, everything else was great."

Amoss said that the whereabouts of Serengeti Empress' next start are still unknown.

"That's a conversation that Joel Politi and I will have later this week," Amoss said.