Echo Zulu

Echo Zulu, a Gun Runner filly owned by L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds, turned in one of the most impressive debut races of the 2021 Saratoga Race Course meet when she romped by 5 ½ lengths in a 5 ½-furlong maiden race on July 15.

The Steve Asmussen trainee was entered in the seven-furlong, Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes at Saratoga for her next start on Sept. 5 and once again the filly dominated, scoring by four lengths as the odds-on favorite.

Asmussen shipped Echo Zulu to Belmont Park for her next start and stretched her out to a one-turn mile in the Grade1 Frizette Stakes on Oct. 3. The filly took the early lead and blazed through a swift half-mile in :45.98 while traveling easy through the far turn. She responded immediately when asked for run by jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. at the top of the lane and drew off from the rest of the field, winning by a dominant 7 ¼ lengths and completing the mile in 1:35.12. With the win, Echo Zulu earned an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 5 at Del Mar and stamped herself as one of the favorites for the race, if not the favorite.

Sent off as the overwhelming 4-5 favorite in the Juvenile Fillies, Echo Zulu quickly seized command under Joel Rosario and overwhelmed five overmatched opponents in a runaway 5 1/4-length victory that cemented her credentials as champion 2-year-old filly.

Winchell Thoroughbreds bought Echo Zulu for $300,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale in 2020. She is the first Grade 1 winner for her sire, the 2007 Horse of the Year. Echo Zulu is out of the Grade 2-winning Menifee mare Letgomyecho, and she's a half-sister (same dam [mother], different sire [father]) to Grade 1 winner Echo Town and Grade 3 winner J Boys Echo.