Following a steady diet of graded-stakes to start the year, Catherine Parke and Augustin Stable’s dual graded winner Sparkle Blue will get some class relief when she returns to Maryland to make a title defense in Sunday’s $100,000 Big Dreyfus at Laurel Park.

The fifth running of the 1 1/8-mile Big Dreyfus for fillies and mares 3 and up scheduled on the Dahlia turf course headlines a 10-race program that includes the $75,000 Miss Disco for Maryland-bred/sired 3-year-old fillies sprinting seven furlongs.

First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

Bred by Parke and trained by Graham Motion, the 5-year-old Sparkle Blue captured last year’s Big Dreyfus by 2 ¼ lengths as the favorite over a field that included Italian Group 3 winner Atomic Blonde and fellow stakes winners Candy Light, Coconut Cake and Deciding Vote.

The daughter of Hard Spun figures to be well-backed again coming out of her first four races of 2024 that included a win in the March 9 Hillsborough (G2) and a third in the Feb. 3 Endeavour (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs and a second, beaten one length, in the May 3 Modesty (G3) at Churchill Downs. Both the Hillsborough and Modesty are run at 1 1/8 miles.

Sparkle Blue stepped up to Grade 1 company in her most recent start for just the second time and first since running third by less than a length in the 2022 American Oaks when she finished ninth after chasing the pace in the 1 3/16-mile New York (G1) June 7 at Saratoga. Eight of the 13 horses that day were bred in Europe, four already had Grade 1 success and the winner, Didia, was a Group 1 winner in her native Argentina.

“It was a very difficult race. It was like a Breeders’ Cup prep. The ground was not ideal, it was on the soft side,” Motion said. “Things just didn’t work out, so I wanted to get her in a more conservative, sensible spot and this seemed logical since she was able to win it last year. And it’s close to home.”

Based at the Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., Sparkle Blue will be making her third career start at Laurel, having finished fourth as a 2-year-old in the 2021 Selima behind Consumer Spending, who went on to run in the Breeders’ Cup and is a three-time graded-stakes winner. Overall, Sparkle Blue has finished third or better in 12 of 17 starts with six wins including the 2022 Christiana and Valley View (G3) and banked $897,988 in purse earnings.

“She really is versatile. Honestly her only disappointment is when I kind of threw her to the wolves a little bit last time, which was probably a little unfair, really. She’s been a really consistent, hard-knocking, blue collar horse for us,” Motion said. “And the family is amazing.”

Out of the Smart Strike mare Silk n’ Sapphire, Sparkle Blue’s siblings include Grade 3 winner Colonial Flag and millionaire Shared Account, a three-time graded winner topped by the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1). Shared Account is the dam of another millionaire in Sharing, winner of the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1), both of whom were trained by Motion. Sparkle Blue is the last of nine foals out of Silk n’ Sapphire, who Parke purchased for $40,000 at Keeneland’s November 2008 breeding stock sale.

“A very sharp move. Catherine is a phenomenal breeder, and she’s really enjoyed the ride with this horse. That’s been our connection, through this family. She’s a very successful breeder and consignor in her own right,” Motion said. “It’s a great family. It’s been very good to me. How many people get to win two Breeders’ Cups from the same family?”

Jorge Ruiz, up for last year’s win, rides back from Post 5 in a field of seven as the 124-pound highweight.

Motion also entered Calumet Farm homebred Sun Bee, who will have Kevin Gomez up from Post 6. The 4-year-old English Channel filly will be making her 16^th start and fourth against stakes company, having run third by 4 ¼ lengths in the 1 1/16-mile PTHA President’s Cup June 8 at Parx. The winner, Canisy, came back to be second in the Beverly D. Preview July 13 at Colonial Downs.

“I don’t like to run these two together, but it’s a good spot for her. She’s coming off what was a really good effort, probably a little unlucky,” Motion said. “The horse that won came back and was second at Colonial, so the form is pretty good. This filly has done nothing but improve which is so often the case with these English Channels. I think the distance suits her.”

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