Serengeti Empress and Street Band will meet for the sixth time Sunday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston Race Park. A seventh matchup could come at Oaklawn Park. The Grade 1-winning fillies are both candidates for the Apple Blossom Handicap on April 18. 

Serengeti Empress was a 2019 Eclipse Award finalist for owner Joel Politi following a season in which she won the Kentucky Oaks and ran third in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. Trainer Tom Amoss said the filly's 2020 campaign could run through Oaklawn.  

"A year in the career of a horse is a very long, long time, so I'm hesitant to talk too far into the future," Amoss said. "After the race in Houston, we would like to target the big race at Oaklawn, the Apple Blossom." 

The Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom is Oaklawn's richest race for fillies and mares and its purse has been boosted this meet, from last year's $750,000.  

Larry Jones, who trains Cotillion winner Street Band, also said the Apple Blossom is a goal for the filly. He co-owns her with Ray Francis, Cindy Jones, Medallion Racing and MyRacehorse Stable. 

Amoss and Jones both have divisions of their stables at Oaklawn. For more from the trainers, please click here for a preview of the Houston Ladies CLassic. 

The Houston Ladies Classic has drawn some outstanding fillies and mares since Jones trainee Joyful Victory won the inaugural running in 2013 and one start later captured the Grade 1 Santa Margarita. Here's a list of some of the other past Houston Ladies Classic winners and their performances in the Apple Blossom: 

Midnight Bisou, an eventual champion who won both the Azeri and Apple Blossom after taking last year's Houston Ladies Classic 

Unbridled Mo, who won the Houston Ladies Classic in 2017 and the Apple Blossom in 2018 

Forever Unbridled, who won both the Houston Ladies Classic and Apple Blossom in 2016 

The other past winners of the Houston Ladies Classic are Rose to Gold, Jones trainee Cassatt, and Tiger Moth. The history of the race's winners was provided by Sam Houston publicist Martha Claussen.