Sparkle Blue parlays beautiful trip under Rosario into Valley View victory

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Working out a perfect trip from the opening jumps, Joel Rosario guided Sparkle Blue to a 2 1/2-length victory Friday in the 32nd running of the Grade 3, $298,594 Valley View Stakes at sun-splashed Keeneland.

Rosario enjoyed a close-up pocket trip for Sparkle Blue throughout the 1 1/16-mile turf race, tipping out only when needed to shoot past front-running Bubble Rock inside the eighth pole. The winner returned $9.02 as third choice in a field of nine 3-year-old fillies after finishing in 1:42.42 over a course rated good.

“She showed a little bit of speed into the first turn and was really happy when we settled in there,” said Rosario. “It was a good trip. When I got her outside the other horse in the stretch, she just went on with it.”

California Angel, the 3-1 second choice, closed belatedly on the far outside to get second in a three-horse photo. She was followed closely by the Brad Cox duo of Turnerloose in third and Bubble Rock in fourth, with Majestic Glory, the 5-2 favorite, finishing fifth.

The win was the fourth in the Valley View for Graham Motion, extending his record in the race for the most by a trainer.

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Sparkle Blue is co-owned by Augustin Stable and Catherine Parke, with Parke having bred the daughter of Hard Spun in Kentucky. Now a winner in four of seven overall starts, she was winning a graded event for the first time when coming off a runner-up finish in the Sept. 6 Virginia Oaks and making her third start of 2022.

The Valley View lost its morning-line favorite earlier in the day when Dolce Zel was scratched by the stewards following a standard pre-race examination. In all, there were five scratches from an oversubscribed lineup of 14.

The $2 exacta (9-1) paid $51.46, the $1 trifecta (9-1-11) returned $137.02, and the 10-cent superfecta (9-1-11-8) was worth $69.57.

Key of Life easily in Myrtlewood

One race earlier, Key of Life went straight to the lead without a glance back in posting a 6 3/4-length romp in the $200,000 Myrtlewood Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.

Ridden for Cox by Florent Geroux, Key of Life paid $3.34 as a prohibitive favorite in a field of 10 after finishing the six-furlong distance in 1:11.09 over a fast main track. Lady Radler was second at 30-1, followed in order by Baby Got Backspin and Take Charge Briana.

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Key of Life, a bay Mo Town filly, now has won three of four starts, with the Myrtlewood marking her stakes debut.

“She’s fast, that’s for sure,” said Staton Flurry, whose Flurry Racing Stable owns her with the Hoffman Family Racing of Gregory Hoffman. “I imagine we’ll look to run her back in the Fern Creek at the end of the Churchill Downs meet, then get her ready for the sprint stakes this winter at Oaklawn Park.”

* Keeneland ends the 17-day fall meet Saturday with three stakes led by the Grade 2 Fayette for older horses. Churchill then will run the first four days of its fall meet (Oct. 30, Nov. 2, 3, 7) around the Nov. 4-5 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland.

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