Oaklawn Park: Devious Intent eyes Martha Washington

Devious Intent, who won the $75,000 Genesis at Delta Downs in her last start Jan. 14, was to ship to Oaklawn on Wednesday to begin preparations for the $75,000 Martha Washington, trainer Bret Calhoun said. The one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies will be run Feb. 11.

“We want to get up there and train over that track,” Calhoun said.

Devious Intent won her first stakes in the Genesis after finishing second in the $150,000 My Trusty Cat on Oct. 22 and fourth in the Grade 3, $500,000 Delta Downs Princess on Nov. 19. Now I Know, who won the Princess, is being pointed to the Martha Washington, while the race also could draw Applauding, an undefeated filly who was scratched from last weekend’s Silverbulletday at Fair Grounds. Another runner expected to be nominated to the Martha Washington is On Fire Baby, a two-time Grade 2 winner based at Oaklawn.

“It’s tough to be shipping to run against those kinds of horses,” Calhoun said. “There’s some nice 3-year-old fillies in this part of the country, between Fair Grounds and Oaklawn. There’s not a lot of other options for her right now, other than to run in these stakes. The race at Oaklawn is a mile, and she might be better at a mile than she is a mile and a sixteenth at this point in time.”

Fair Grounds’s next stakes for 3-year-old fillies, the Grade 3, $200,000 Rachel Alexandra, is at 1 1/16 miles. It will be run Feb. 25.

Devious Intent won her career debut at six furlongs at Hoosier Park. She is a daughter of Dixie Union and races for the partnership of Larry Hirsch and Wayne Sanders.

“We’ve always liked this filly,” Calhoun said.

◗ Lulu Wong, who won an Oaklawn allowance Jan. 13 one start after finishing second to Applauding at Fair Grounds, is being considered for the Martha Washington, trainer Steve Hobby said.