Amoss Looking To Fair Grounds Oaks For Rachel Alexandra Winner Serengeti Empress

Following a dazzling effort in Saturday's Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., Serengeti Empress will seek another New Orleans graded stakes victory on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks in the Grade 2 $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks on March 23.

The daughter of Alternation took the Rachel Alexandra Stakes field gate-to-wire in and won under a hand ride by 4 1/2 lengths with current Fair Grounds leading rider James Graham aboard for the journey. It was her first victory since an even more dominant performance in the Grade 2 Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs, which she won by 19 1/4 lengths.

“It was a numbing experience,” owner Joel Politi recalled. “When she won, we were in disbelief of how impressive it was. If you been around the game long enough, you get moments and you really enjoy cherish and treasure them and that was one of them. I was a little more nervous for (Saturday's) race. Tom would even tell you that she wasn't fully cranked. She only had three works and went five eighths twice and that was it. We had reasonable expectations.”

Amoss reported that Serengeti Empress emerged from the Rachel Alexandra Stakes in good shape.

“I thought she got a lot left and she did,” Amoss said. “I knew after a half-mile that it would take a freakish effort to beat her. She looks good, Roiland (third in G3 Risen Star on Saturday) looks good and so does Lone Sailor (sixth in the G3 Mineshaft Handicap). In his defense, he was off the pace on a day where speed was showing that it was good. He looked healthy this morning and I'm not going to fault him for a bad race.”

Amoss said tat the G2 $400,000 New Orleans Handicap is an option but could depend on where the fellow G M B Racing-owned stakes winner Tom's d'Etat ends up running.