HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Search Party won a cavalry charge to the wire in the $300,000 Martha Washington on Friday at Oaklawn Park and for her neck victory over Newtown Pike picked up 20 qualifying points for the Kentucky Oaks. It was another half-length back in third to Knickleandime. The Martha Washington was the first stakes in Oaklawn’s series for 3-year-old fillies. It’s the richest road to the Kentucky Oaks and will continue with the Grade 3, $750,000 Honeybee on March 1 and the Grade 2 Fantasy that will have a record purse of $1 million on March 27. Search Party ($10.20) settled along the rail in third early as Knickleandime raced on a clear lead through fractions of 23.10 seconds for the opening quarter and 47.83 for the half-mile. Search Party continued to ride the rail down the backside, had to wait behind horses approaching the quarter pole, then was angled out into the stretch by jockey Cristian Torres. Search Party dug in from there, charging up between horses and fighting to the wire to cover 1 1/16 miles on a track rated fast in 1:45.56. “She showed a lot of heart today,” trainer Mark Casse said in an interview conducted by Oaklawn. :: Live racing action at Oaklawn Park! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Search Party is a daughter of Gun Runner who races for her breeder, Tracy Farmer. She was winning her second straight race at Oaklawn after a six-length maiden route score on Dec. 27. Search Party earned a notable Beyer Speed Figure of 81 in that race. Torres also was aboard Search Party in the Oaklawn maiden win. “She’s very versatile,” he told the publicity staff at Oaklawn on Friday. “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. As soon as it opened up, I asked her and she responded.” Search Party faced some accomplished fillies in the Martha Washington. Counting Stars, the 3-5 favorite, had won an overnight stakes and the Year’s End in her two starts this season at Oaklawn. She dropped back on the final turn Friday and coasted in eighth. Hit Parade, winner of the Untapable at Fair Grounds, made a bid before finishing fifth on a warm afternoon in the 70s. The Martha Washington’s second- through fifth-place finishers also earned Kentucky Oaks points, on a scale of 10-6-4-2. Maximum Offer was fourth and picked up 4 points and Hit Parade earned 2.   The Martha Washington was run as the sixth race on a 12-race card featuring the Southwest Stakes. Casse won his third race on the card in the Martha Washington, after saddling Reckless ($9.20) to win the opener and Top Level ($17.20) to account for the fifth race. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.