Sparkle Blue's patience pays off in Big Dreyfus

Sparkle Blue was ridden very patiently by jockey Jorge Ruiz in the early stages, and that worried trainer Graham Motion.

“I was a little nervous because Jorgie took a bit of a hold of her going into the first turn,” Motion said in a post-race interview conducted by Laurel Park.

Sparkle Blue settled off the slow pace in the second flight from in between horses as Lady Puchi, Community Adjusted, and a three-wide Coconut Cake contested very reasonable fractions of 24.88, 50.30, and 1:13.96 seconds.

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Ruiz found a three-wide seam turning into the stretch and Sparkle Blue split rivals while hemming in Atomic Blonde, her main competition.

Sparkle Blue burst past the leaders at the eighth pole, then finished nicely to best Atomic Blonde by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:49.29 over the “good” turf. Community Adjusted was 1 1/2 lengths back in third. They were followed by Candy Light, Lady Puchi, Coconut Cake, and Deciding Vote.

Sparkle Blue returned $4.40 as the betting favorite.

“He [Ruiz] does such a good job,” Motion added. “He got her relaxed, she switched off nicely, and she won pretty easy.”

A 4-year-old filly by Hard Spun owned by Augustin Stable and Catherine Parke, Sparkle Blue captured the Christiana Stakes at Delaware, and the Grade 3 Valley View at Keeneland during her 2022 campaign. She finished up the year with a third-place effort, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the Grade 1 American Oaks at Santa Anita.

The Big Dreyfus was Sparkle Blue’s third start this season. In her seasonal debut, she placed sixth of seven in the Grade 3 Modesty at Churchill Downs. Sparkle Blue finished third after a troubled start in Churchill’s Keertana at 1 1/2 miles May 27.

“I kind of had a circle on this race a while,” Motion said. “I think this is a really good distance for her.”

Bred in Kentucky by Parke, Sparkle Blue is a half-sister to Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Shared Account and Grade 3 Ontario Colleen heroine Colonial Flag. She’s won 5 of 11 starts and has now earned $477,175.

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