HOT SPRINGS -- Serengeti Empress had a big day at Oaklawn more than a month ago, but today's challenge is a daunting one.
Tom Amoss -- trainer of Serengeti Empress, who led wire-to-wire to run away from six others in the Azeri Stakes on March 14 -- sounded concerned about his 4-year-old champion's setup in today's Apple Blossom Handicap, despite the fact she's the 4-1 morning-line third choice.
"I thank Serengeti Empress has some big challenges going into this race," Amoss said.
Post time for the Grade I, $600,000 Apple Blossom -- the 10th of 11 races on the card -- is scheduled for 5:16 p.m. The 1 1/16-mile race is for fillies and mares 4 years old and up. As has been the case since March 13, no fans will be allowed on Oaklawn's racing grounds.
Whereas Serengeti Empress took the lead with relative ease in the Azeri, she will face several front-end speedsters among the Apple Blossom's 13 other entrants.
Four others in the race were within 1 1/2 lengths of the lead through the first quarter-mile in their last efforts. All but one will start inside of Serengeti Empress, who is assigned the 11th stall in Oaklawn's 14-stall gate.
"When you look at this race, and you look at the speed that's going from inside of her, you're looking at -- at least on paper -- a pace that's going to be so rapid in front involving those horses that the advantage, the strong advantage, is going to go to horses that close, not horses that are on the lead," Amoss said. "Unfortunately, our job is made harder by the post position. Not only do we have to be as fast as everybody in the race to make the lead, we have to be at least a length and a half faster than them. That is a real challenge. "
With jockey Joe Talamo in the saddle, Amoss said the 4-year-old by Alternation will be sent to the front no matter what.
"She wins when she takes the lead," Amoss said. "Is our strategy going to change? No. We're going to the front. Is it going to take a lot of energy to get to the front? The answer is, I don't know, but logically you would think it probably will. If that happens, we're very, very vulnerable down the stretch because of fatigue."
If her effort proves too compromising, threats to run down Serengeti Empress -- or any others on or near the lead -- abound.
Grade I winner Come Dancing, a 6-year-old daughter of Malibu Moon trained by D. Wayne Lukas, won three graded stakes last season, including Saratoga's 7-furlong Ballerina Stakes in August.
"She's proven she has Grade I potential," Lukas said of Come Dancing, the 3-1 program favorite.
Ce Ce, the 7-2 second choice trained by Michael McCarthy, won the Grade I Beholder Mile Stakes at Santa Anita Park on March 14 in her last of five career starts.
The Beholder Mile was the second start off an eight-month layoff for Ce Ce, a 4-year-old daughter of Elusive Quality.
"The way she did it I thought was very impressive," McCarthy said. "Certainly, second race back off a layoff, to win a Grade I, kind of tells you a lot about her."
Despite the upgrade in class and talent from the Azeri for Serengeti Empress, Talamo said he is eager for the challenge.
"I can't wait for the Apple Blossom," Talamo said. "Serengeti, boy, she's a heck of a filly. I don't know any filly that I've ridden before who we're able to go that fast for that long and win like that. That's a testament to her talent and the way Tom Amoss has done a great job training her."
Amoss' 95-year-old father Jim Amoss died in New Orleans last week after he was sickened by covid-19. With that in mind, Amoss will watch Serengeti Empress' attempt in the Apple Blossom on TV nearly 500 miles away from the racetrack.
Amoss commended Oaklawn's ability to keep racing during the coronavirus pandemic, but he lamented the rest of the situation.
"This self-quarantine or stay-at-home order -- and I say this with a father who just passed away with the disease -- I can't help but at the very least keep asking myself, 'Is the disease worth the cure?' '' Amoss said. "I just don't know. I guess it'll play out over time. We'll see."
Apple Blossom Handicap
Grade I, $600,000,1 1/16 miles, fillies and mares 4-years-old and up
PP HORSE JOCKEY ML
1 Ollie’s Candy Rosario 12-1
2 Coldwater DeLaCruz 50-1
3 Awe Emma Lanerie 20-1
4 Come Dancing Geroux 3-1
5 Point of Honor Van Dyke 10-1
6 Street Band Doyle 15-1
7 Queen Nekia Cohen 20-1
8 Saracosa Garcia 30-1
9 Horologist Baze 15-1
10 Cookie Dough Cedillo 10-1
11 Serengeti Empress Talamo 4-1
12 Go Google Yourself Hernandez 12-1
13 Lady Apple Santana 15-1
14 Ce Ce Espinoza 7-2
RICK LEE’S SELECTIONS
10 The Apple Blossom. Grade I.
Purse $600,000, 1 1/16 miles, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up
CE CE*** dominated rivals winning the Grade-I Beholder Mile at Santa Anita, which was her first try around two turns. She is lightly raced. SERENGETI EMPRESS won the Grade-2 Azeri by six lengths, and the quick and classy filly is the one to catch and beat. STREET BAND is a Grade-I winning filly, who possesses a consistent late punch, and the pace figures to be fast enough to flatter her late run.
PP HORSE JOCKEY TRAINER ODDS
14 Ce Ce Espinoza McCarthy 7-2
11 Serengeti Empress Talamo Amoss 4-1
6 Street Band Doyle Jones 15-1
1 Ollie’s Candy Rosario Sadler 12-1
4 Come Dancing Geroux Lukas 3-1
5 Point of Honor Van Dyke Weaver 10-1
12 Go Google Yourself Hernandez McGee 12-1
10 Cookie Dough Cedillo Joseph 10-1
9 Horologist Baze Baltas 15-1
7 Queen Nekia Cohen Joseph 20-1
13 Lady Apple Santana Asmussen 15-1
8 Saracosa Garcia Contreras 30-1
3 Awe Emma Lanerie Stewart 20-1
2 Coldwater WDe La Cruz Eurton 50-1
Sports on 04/18/2020