(Search Party wins the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Friday / Photo by Coady Media)

From the Oaklawn Park Media Team:

$300,000 Martha Washington Stakes

The Mark Casse train rolled on Friday afternoon at Oaklawn when Search Party held off several challengers to win the $300,000 Martha Washington Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.

The Martha Washington, Oaklawn’s first of three Kentucky Oaks qualifying races, was the third victory on the card for Casse, a member of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, and pushed his meet record to 14 for 27. Casse was also represented in the Martha Washington by multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Counting Stars, but she finished last of eight as the 3-5 favorite.

Search Party, under two-time Oaklawn riding champion Cristian Torres, edged Newtown Pike by a neck, with stubborn front-runner Knickleandime another half-length farther back in third. It was a neck back to fourth-place finisher Maximum Offer, who was followed, in order, by Hit Parade, Spitfire, Grace Is Free and Counting Stars.

Search Party ($10.20) was making her stakes debut in the Martha Washington, which was delayed six days because of a winter storm late last month. The track was also closed for training for nine days (Jan. 24-Feb. 1). Search Party, who races for breeder/owner Tracy Farmer, was a sparkling six-length maiden special weight winner at 1 1/16 miles Dec. 27 at Oaklawn in her previous start.

Search Party, on the inside, was within striking distance down the backstretch of the Martha Washington as Knickleandime took the field through a modest :47.83 half-mile. Search Party was behind a wall of horses turning for home, but she found room in the upper stretch after shifting to the outside. Shadowed on the outside by Newtown Pike, Search Party finally collared Knickleandime and Maximum Offer in the final 50 yards. The top four finishers were separated by a length.

Search Party ran 1 1/16 miles over a fast track in 1:45.56. A daughter of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, Search Party collected 20 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks, the country’s biggest race for 3-year-old fillies. Search Party now has 2-1-2 record from six lifetime starts and earnings of $276,211.

 

MARTHA WASHINGTON QUOTES

WINNING JOCKEY CRISTIAN TORRES (SEARCH PARTY): “Great filly. She’s very versatile. She can run on the pace, stalk. Great filly to ride. She responded today. She showed up. I knew I had a ton of horse underneath me. I

was just waiting for the hole to open up (turning for home). As soon as it opened up, I asked her and she responded.”

WINNING TRAINER MARK CASSE (SEARCH PARTY): “This one is special. The first horse I ever bought for (breeder/owner) Tracy Farmer was her mother (Search Party’s dam is Devious Charm). This is special. The Farmers have been such great supporters of ours and she showed a lot of heart today. That (Kentucky Oaks) would be nice. Last year we had La Cara go to the Oaks. The Farmers, they’re just great people. So, we’ll see. But I don’t see her leaving here.”

EIGHTH-PLACE JOCKEY FRANCISCO ARRIETA (COUNTING STARS): “Probably those days we weren’t training was a factor because she was not even close to what she is. I was running in a perfect spot and when I tried to keep position, I didn’t have anything. She started getting weaker and weaker. After asking her a couple of times to keep going, so I just decided to leave her alone.”