Sparks Fly

What makes Sparks Fly so fascinating is how completely the ground transforms her. On wet or muddy ground she has won 3 from 3 — a perfect record. Broaden that out to slightly soft conditions and she has won 3 of her 4 races. Trainer David Loughnane, based in Shropshire, is blunt about it: soft ground is paramount for her. The one bad run she had at York came when he walked the track beforehand and knew it was too quick — and he's still kicking himself for running her. When she gets her conditions, he says flatly, she is unbeatable.

She has not just won on wet ground — she has won at the top level on it. In October 2024 she took a Class 1 race at Nottingham, one of the highest grades in British racing, and the previous year she won a Class 2 at Haydock Park. Loughnane has been saying for two seasons that she is a Group 1 horse — the very pinnacle of the sport — if she gets her conditions, and the evidence backs him up. Most recently, just this week at Epsom, she ran what her trainer called a blinder in a Group 3, finishing with a rush but just failing to get out in time. Crucially, it was the first time she has run well on ground described as good rather than wet — which, if it holds, opens up the calendar considerably.

Her partnership with jockey Laura Pearson has been central to the story. The two have raced together 14 times and won 6 of them — a 43% win rate that almost exactly mirrors Sparks Fly's overall record. The yard at Stoke Heath has had 39 winners this season already, and with Sparks Fly still active and still improving into her sixth year, the team is openly targeting a Group 1. Given what she has already done in the mud, it would be unwise to bet against her finding one.