Scarlet Fusion a Perfect Student in Connally Cup

Scarlet Fusion  stepped onto the soft turf at Sam Houston Race Park Jan. 28 and did not disappoint, striking moments before the wire to collar the $200,000 John B. Turf Connally Cup (G3T)—his first stakes victory in 20 overall starts.

Purchased last year by Carl Moore and Brad Grady for $110,000 from the Eaton Sales consignment to the Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale, the 5-year-old son of Curlin   has blossomed since.

"Carl and Brad had a lot of confidence buying this horse out of the mixed sale last April. He's a horse that's continued to get better. We haven't had a chance to run him on the grass under our tutelage and tonight was the first night. He obviously did everything we asked," said trainer Joe Sharp.

Under Adam Beschizza, the horse ran towards the middle of the pack in the 1 1/2-mile Connally Cup while Portos  and Logical Myth  showed the way through early fractions of :25.25 and :51.88. As the field headed into the final lap, Spooky Channel  moved into the lead and maintained that position in 1:17.41 and 1:43.21 but came under fire from Another Mystery , who put pressure on as the field swept by the 1 1/4-mile marker in 2:07.88 into the far turn.

At the stretch, it was still Another Mystery who fired away down the rail with Spooky Channel chasing towards the middle of the lane as Scarlet Fusion gained ground from the outside of those foes. As the three runners closed in on the wire, it would be Scarlet Fusion, who, with a final surge, got to win by three-quarters of a length to take the soft-turf test in 2:33.50.

Another Mystery got a neck in front for second, with Spooky Channel in third. 

"He's stayed this distance before pretty well but obviously on a different surface... We got the setup that dreams are made of, really. They went a nice, honest pace the whole way around," Beschizza said. "I thought I'd have to be doing the donkey work to be honest but he's a horse you have to keep pedaling on but he picked up well down the lane and did it with a bit of ease as well."

Scarlet Fusion ($9.80) improved his record to 4-4-7 while increasing his earnings to $427,918. His only other try in a stakes race came in his last start when he was third in the 2022 Tinsel Stakes on dirt at Oaklawn Park.

Bred by Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings in Kentucky, Scarlet Fusion is out of the stakes-placed French Deputy mare Scarlet Tango . The dam has 11 winners from 12 foals to race, including grade 1 winner Visionaire , grade 3 winners Scarlet Strike  and Madison's Luna , and multiple graded stakes winner Tara's Tango .

Video: John B. Connally Turf Cup S. (G3T)