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Under a brilliant ride from Jose Ortiz, the Tom Amoss trained Serengeti Empress crossed from gate 13 to take up the lead and stayed there.

It was a fast pace but Ortiz, who was on board the horse for the first time, is an excellent judge of pace and followed instructions to “ride her like you owned her”.  She is a great athlete and was able to increase the lead at the end when Liora appeared out of the pack and finish 1 ¾ lengths to the good of that runner, who had started at 39/1.  Lady Apple was third on 10/1 and Champagne Anyone 6/1. 

Short priced favourite was too far back for most of the race and when she made a charge it only took her up to the 5th spot.  Not a bad effort from Sophie Doyle on Street Band as they finished seventh. 

There was an incident at the start when Positive Spirit arguably suffered interference from Jaywalk and went down on his nose and dislodged jockey Manny Franco.  Both rider and horse were OK after and Jaywalk, who finished sixth, was demoted to last.

The day started with the Eight Belles where Break Even got the win from Bells The One and Queen of Beas.  Mother Mother was 6th of the seven runners.

McKinzie made a great comeback in the Alysheba to win from Tom’s d’Etat and Seeking the Soul.

The La Troienne was a great result for the Asmussen family as She’s a Julie, named for Steve’s wife, won in the race where Steve was the winning trainer.  Secret Spice came second and the Argentinian Blue Prize a good third.

The Twin Spires Turf Sprint went to the favourite World of Trouble with jockey Manny Franco not encountering any trouble in this race – that was to come in the Oaks!  Smart Remark was second and Chaos Theory third, Bound For Nowhere was scratched and Undrafted came fourth.

There was an all-time record in the wagering on the day and on the Oaks itself.