Joel Politi
Tom Amoss, a fixture of the American racing circuit for more than four decades, has announced that he will step down from his career as a trainer. After a storied 39-year career that saw him rise from the local ranks in Louisiana to the pinnacle of the sport with Grade I wins at Churchill Downs, Saratoga and Oaklawn Park, Amoss will officially hand over the management of his stable to head assistant Kinnon LaRose effective April 1. LaRose, who joined the operation in 2020, has served as Amoss's head assistant...
8th-CD, $120K, Msw, 3yo/up, f&m, 1mT, 4:22 p.m. ET. MO EXPECTATIONS (Uncle Mo) makes the races for the first time under the care of trainer Brad Cox. Stonestreet went to $1.15-million during the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Fall Mixed Sale to acquire Havisham (Bernardini), who at the time was carrying their filly. Mo Expectations is a half-sister to Joel Politi's GI Longines Kentucky Oaks heroine Serengeti Empress (Alteration). That dam's first registered foal--the stakes placed Invictus (Into Mischief)--is also a member of Cox's shedrow. TJCIS PPS
1st-Keeneland, $110,000, Msw, 4-8, 3yo, 7f, 1:23.51, ft, 2 1/2 lengths. INVICTUS (c, 3, Into Mischief--Serengeti Empress {MGISW, $2,175,653}, by Alternation) had not been seen since finishing a well-beaten seventh in the 6 1/2-furlong Saratoga maiden race won in 'TDN Rising Star' style by Chancer McPatrick (McKinzie) last July. The 8-5 second choice was hustled out to the early lead, but allowed favored Camp Hale (Mo Town) to take control and then settled in third as longshot Ship Ship Hooray (Midshipman) shot up the rail to lead as the quarter...
Joel Politi's Kimchi Cat, entered for main track only, made the most of her stakes debut when the Bolton Landing Stakes came off the turf Sunday at Saratoga. The dark bay filly sat just off of pacesetting favorite Viggiedal through an opening quarter in :22.03. She rolled up four wide into the lane and took the lead from the favorite with a furlong to run before sailing clear to the wire. Icona Mama overtook Viggiedal late for second. "Today, [trainer] Tom [Amoss] said there was a lot of speed, so...
by Jessica Martini & Christina Bossinakis LEXINGTON, KY - With the very first horse through the ring bringing $1.3 million, the second session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale was off to the races Tuesday and the action didn't slow down throughout the day as the second-to-last offering brought $1.25 million. In between, 13 other yearlings sold for seven figures, including a colt by Into Mischief who brought top price of $3 million from the partnership of Chuck Sonson, West Point Thoroughbreds and Woodford. With eight million-dollar yearlings Monday, the...
Joel Politi was still a relative newcomer to racehorse ownership when Serengeti Empress (Alternation) took him to the winner's circle of the 2019 GI Kentucky Oaks. The dream ride could continue when the mare's first foal, a colt by Into Mischief (hip 309), goes through the sales ring Tuesday during the second Book 1 session of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale through the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment. "I am excited, proud and nervous, how about that? Probably a lot of emotions," Politi said ahead of next week's auction. "Serengeti...
The Keeneland September Yearling Sale marched into its second week with continued competitive bidding as the auction's Book 4 section opened Monday in Lexington. "There is unbelievable trade here today," said consignor Peter O'Callaghan of Woods Edge Farm. "There is just a huge crowd up there. And they'd knock you down for a good horse. I'm actually not surprised it's this strong. Not with the way it started and the amount of people who have not yet got to buy horses. It was clear that trickle down effect was going...
Taylor Made Farm welcomed dual Grade I winner Serengeti Empress (Alternation) home to her birthplace on Monday afternoon. The 2019 Kentucky Oaks victress will be bred to red hot sire Into Mischief. Shipping in from the Tom Amoss barn at Churchill Downs, Serengeti Empress will become barnmates with several other high-profile maiden mares, including Larry Best's recent $1.95 million Keeneland November purchase Concrete Rose (Twirling Candy). "It's just special," said Frank Taylor, the Vice President of Boarding Operations for Taylor Made. "When you get these Grade I winners come to...