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. Three months later, Echo Zulu received that honor at the 2021 Eclipse Awards held at Santa Anita Park.

Echo Zulu made her 2022 debut in the Grade 2 Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks on Mar. 26. She was sent off as the overwhelming 1-10 favorite in the six-horse field. She was pressed on the lead while racing on the inside in the early stages. In the stretch, Hidden Connection moved alongside her and battled with her throughout the stretch run. The two hit the wire together, but the photo finish camera disclosed that Echo Zulu won by a nose. With that win, Echo Zulu earned 100 qualifying points for the Longines Kentucky Oaks, locking up a spot in the starting gate. 

Echo Zulu pressed pacesetter Yuugiri in the Longines Kentucky Oaks through fast early fractions, led in early the stretch of the $1.25-million race May 6 at Churchill Downs, but could not hold off winner Secret Oath and faded late while running fourth in the first loss of her career.

Freshened for more than four months after the Kentucky Oaks, Echo Zulu made her return Sept. 24 at Churchill Downs in the $275,000 Dogwood Stakes. She opened a clear early lead in the Grade 3 race for 3-year-old fillies, increased her advantage in early stretch, and dominated the seven-furlong race by 5 ¼ lengths as the odds-on favorite.

The next logical spot for Echo Zulu was the Grade 1 $1 million Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, and she was on the scene at Keeneland going for her second Breeders' Cup win in as many years. Echo Zulu drew post 12 in a 12-horse field and was sent off as the 7-2 second choice on the tote board, and she showed speed to be prominently placed throughout from the outside post. Echo Zulu led in the stretch but was unable to hold off favored winner Goodnight Olive and settled for a second-place finish.

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.