Power Gal earns 10 Kentucky Oaks points with Martha Washington win

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Power Gal won her two-turn debut Saturday in the $125,000 Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park and in the process picked up 10 points for the Kentucky Oaks.

Marathon Queen was second, Taylor's Spirit was third and Sunset Wish was fourth, with all earning Kentucky Oaks points on a scale of 4-2-1.

Power Gal ($8.40) stalked the pace in the early stages as Marathon Queen, with Taylor's Spirit in close pursuit, set fractions of 24.73 seconds for the opening quarter, 49.95 for the half-mile and 1:14.32 for six furlongs. Power Gal advanced on the final turn, came four wide into the stretch, and fought her way past the leaders for a half-length victory. She won the mile race that ended at the sixteenth pole in 1:39.82.

“She showed a lot of heart,” winning rider David Cohen said. “She had to work for it today.”

Power Gal, who is trained by Mark Casse, came into the Martha Washington off a third-place finish in a first-level allowance sprint Dec. 22 at Aqueduct. One start prior she won a maiden special weight at the same track, over 6 1/2 furlongs Nov. 3. She started her career at Keeneland.

“She’s a filly we liked a lot,” Casse said. “Took her to New York, she won in New York, and I thought her last race was sneaky good. We shipped her to Oaklawn because there’s such a great 3-year-old series, filly and colt series. That’s one of the reasons she’s there.”

Casse said the goal is the local series, which continues with the Grade 3, $200,000 Honeybee on March 9 and the Grade 3, $500,000 Fantasy on April 12.

Power Gal is a Japanese-bred daughter of Empire Maker who races for Gary Barber. She earned $75,000 for her win, her second from four starts. Power Gal now has earnings of $126,370.

Attendance on track was an estimated 15,000.