Search Party racked her first 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) with an extremely game effort in Friday’s $300,000 Martha Washington S. at Oaklawn Park.
Making her stakes debut after a six-length maiden score on Dec. 27, the 3-year-old Gun Runner filly was tucked in on the rail just behind the leaders for most of the 1 1/16-mile trip. She was third early on, then shuffled back to fifth on the final turn and into the stretch. Moving off the rail, she found a narrow opening with a furlong to run to begin her relentless stretch drive. In a four-way battle to the end, Search Party prevailed by a neck over Newtown Pike.
“This one is special,” trainer Mark Casse said. “The first horse I ever bought for (owner/breeder) 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.”
With the win, Search Party is 2-1-2 in six starts and has earned $276,211.
Search Party is Gun Runner’s 54th lifetime stakes winner and was the highlight of the day that also saw his first-time starter Always a Runner score a dominating maiden special weight win at Tampa Bay Downs, earning the 3-year-old colt a TDN ‘Rising Star’ tag. Always a Runner, who sold for $1.05 million at the 2024 Keeneland September sale, was bred by Three Chimneys Farm, LLC, and is owned by the farm in partnership with Douglas Scharbauer.
The first foal out of Three Chimney’s Grade 2-placed Always Carina, Always a Runner has two full younger siblings. This is also the immediate family of Breeders’ Cup winners Structor and More Than Real.
