Spooky Channel shows patience in John B. Connally win

It took a late push for the favored Spooky Channel to move into the lead in the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup at Sam Houston, but the son of English Channel was able to make to the front and earn the victory in the 1 1/2-mile race.

“I wanted to be patient,” winning jockey Julien Leparoux said. “I wanted to be, but I wanted to be a little bit closer than we’ve been in previous races. Today worked really good, I could get him settled right behind two or three horses, I was very happy where I was and then he fought on to the end.”

Spooky Channel spent much of the race off the front, letting Conviction Trade, trained by Mike Maker, tried to wire the field after getting off to a hot start from the fifth post position in the field of 12 horses aged four and up.

Conviction Trade looked strong for most of the race, leading the field with fractions of 24.57, 48.97, 1:14.00, 1:40.52 and 2:05.67 on the firm turf. However, down the stretch he seemed to run out of energy, fading as Spooky Channel came from the outside and eventually finishing third.

Spooky Channel faced another threat from Ajourneytofreedom, who also passed Conviction Trade, who finished second, but was able to hold on and win by a head for trainer Brian Lynch.

The 6-year-old gelding earned his second career stakes victory, with the first coming in the W. L. McKnight (G3) in January 2020 at Gulfstream, another 1 1/2-mile affair. In his last race, the Fort Lauderdale (G2) on Dec. 12, he finished fourth.

Spooky Channel is owned by Terry Hamilton, who purchased him for $10,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sale in Fall of 2016.

The gelding returned $5 for the win after going off at 3-2, covering the 12 furlongs in 2:30.94.