Despite breaking a step slowly from the inside post position, Joel Politi's Serengeti Empress, quickly moved to the front under Luis Saez and never looked back, winning the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., on Saturday.
The second choice in the wagering at 3-1, the Tom Amoss-trained 4-year-old filly by Alternation defeated 5-2 favorite Bellafina by about a length, covering seven furlongs in 1:21.63 after setting sizzling fractions of :21.75, :43.74 and 1:08.32. Victim of Love finished third, with 2019 Ballerina winner Come Dancing fourth and Mexican star Letruska fifth in the field of seven fillies and mares, 4 and up.
“This is a win and you're in for the Breeders' Cup. Can't wait,” said Tom Amoss, who trains the 2019 Kentucky Oaks winner, in reference to the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series that will give Serengeti Empress and automatic, fees-paid berth in the Filly & Mare Sprint, to be run at Keeneland on Nov. 7.
Serengeti Empress was winning for the seventh time in 17 career starts. The Ballerina was her second victory of 2020, the filly having won the G2 Azeri at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn on a sloppy track earlier this year.
After breaking fastest, Letruska battled with Serengeti Empress in the long run down the backstretch and around the turn, with Cookie Dough third and Bellafina fourth and to the outside.
Into the stretch, Letruska began to fade, but Victim of Love came up the rail to challenge and Bellafina applied pressure to Serengeti Empress' right flank. Just when it appeared those two might have a chance to take over, Serengeti Empress spurted clear under an aggressive hand ride from Saez in the final sixteenth.
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