Sparkle Blue successfully defended her title in Sunday’s $100,000 Big Dreyfus Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Laurel Park. The Big Dreyfus shared top billing on the program with the $75,000 Miss Disco for Maryland-bred 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on dirt. Jockey Jorge Ruiz placed the versatile Sparkle Blue in the second flight of runners as Cut From Class and Tic Tic Tic Boom tussled through early fractions of 23.46, 48.27 and 1:12.25. It took Cut From Class until upper stretch to dismiss Tic Tic Tic Boom, and she then was almost immediately set upon from the outside by Sparkle Blue. Despite being late to change leads while drifting inward on a couple of rivals, Sparkle Blue wore down the pacesetter to prevail by a half-length in 1:47.82 seconds over the firm course. Cut From Class, making her stakes debut for owner-trainer Steven Keil after three consecutive victories, finished a game second, a neck ahead of Sun Bee. Then came Glittering Lights, Charmed Way, Tic Tic Tic Boom and Cats Inthe Timber. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Sparkle Blue returned $2.60 to win. Forest Boyce, the rider of Charmed Way, claimed foul against the top two finishers after her mount was pinched between them in midstretch, but the stewards took no action. “It looked like she had a pretty clear trip until the last sixteenth,” trainer Graham Motion said in a post-race interview broadcast by Laurel Park. “She’s very professional. Jorge rides her with a lot of confidence. I thought he was in a great spot.” Sparkle Blue was a deserving heavy favorite after facing graded stakes competition in her last four races, including a victory in the Grade 2 Hillsborough at Tampa Bay on March 9. In her final start before the Big Dreyfus, she finished ninth in the Grade 1 New York Stakes at Saratoga. “We threw her to the wolves last time at Saratoga in what was almost like a Breeders’ Cup prep,” Motion added. “The ground was very soft that day and she kind of struggled a little bit.” A 5-year-old mare foaled in Kentucky, Sparkle Blue was bred by Catherine Parke, and is owned in partnership with Augustin Stable. She is a Hard Spun half-sister to Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf winner Shared Account, Grade 3 winner Colonial Flag and Grade 3-placed Mark of Success.   The Big Dreyfus was Sparkle Blue’s fifth stakes victory. She now boasts a record of 7 wins from 18 starts for career earnings of $957,988. Motion mentioned the Grade 3, $1.5 million Ladies Turf Stakes on Aug. 31 at Kentucky Downs as a potential next start for Sparkle Blue. The mare finished second in that race last year. *Miss Disco Moving back into Maryland-bred competition helped Miss Harriett return to the winner’s circle in the Miss Disco. Miss Harriett’s early speed is her best asset, and she surged through along the inside in the opening furlong to set fractions of 22.65 and 45.25 while facing pressure from both Overly Dramatic and race favorite Daughter of Time. Daughter of Time made a three-wide bid into strong contention turning into the stretch, but Miss Harriett soon beat back that challenge. Racing off the rail in the final furlong under Boyce, Miss Harriett strode under the wire 2 1/4 lengths better than Go Sherry Go, who settled in last on the backstretch behind the three front-runners before surging up the fence for second. Daughter of Time flattened out to finish 1 1/2 lengths behind the runner-up with Overly Dramatic trailing the field. My Brazilian Girl and Enemynumbernine scratched. Miss Harriett stepped the seven panels in 1:25.14 and returned $4.80 as the second betting choice for trainer Brandon McFarlane. A homebred daughter of Blofeld owned by David Baxter’s Narrow Leaf Farm, Miss Harriett is a half-sister to Keep Momma Happy, who won the 2012 Maryland Million Nursery for Baxter as a first-time starter. Miss Harriett is also a half-sister to Grade 3-placed dirt sprinter Hemp, and juvenile stakes-placed dirt sprinter In Arrears. Miss Harriett followed in Keep Momma Happy’s footsteps by winning a stakes race in her career debut, last fall’s Maryland Million Lassie at 62-1 odds.   She captured her first two races of 2022, including the Wide Country Stakes at seven furlongs here on Feb. 24. Miss Harriett then was placed in some tough situations. Shipped to Aqueduct for the Cicada on March 16, Miss Harriett failed to make the lead and finished last of four. The following month, she couldn’t stay two turns when third in the Weber City Miss. Likely overmatched in the Grade 3 Miss Preakness two starts back, a turf experiment then didn’t pay dividends in the Stormy Blues on June 16. The Miss Disco was her first start against statebred company since winning the Lassie. Miss Harriett has scored in 4 of 9 starts for lifetime earnings of $215,310. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.