Breakout Beyers: Echo Again has resounding Saratoga debut for Asmussen

Each week in this space, the top Beyer performances by maiden winners will be featured and analyzed. Click here for a complete archive.

Echo Again
Aug. 20, 7th race Saratoga, MdSpWt105k
Beyer: 94
6 1/2 furlongs 1:15.89 – 1st by 6 3/4 lengths
gr. c. 2, Gun Runner – Teardrop, by Tapit
Noteworthy siblings: Pneumatic (Uncle Mo – foaled 2017) – stakes-winner, $275K earnings, 98 Beyer
Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Breeder: Winchell Thoroughbreds

It seems like a good policy to take note of a first-time starter at a major venue who not only shows enough speed to run the fastest first quarter-mile in a maiden race but proceeds to also turn in the fastest closing fraction. That’s what we got from Echo Again, who was fastest through the opening quarter mile by .26 of a second and fastest through the final 2 1/2 furlongs by .81 of a second, after which he galloped out still full of run. The riding crop was never brought to bear, but with a rival still in range at the three-sixteenths pole, Echo Again was ridden along fairly aggressively, responding with a final burst that carried him well clear, his jockey scarcely moving his hands through the final 150 yards. Moreover, the colt as a whole just gave the impression of doing everything easily and comfortably; some fast debut runs will set a 2-year-old back but wouldn’t expect that to be the case here. His brother, Pneumatic, scored his stakes win in a route and was tried in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont, and Echo Again seems likely to get a middle distance as a 2-year-old. Echo Again traces a long way back to horses owned by the Winchell family – his fourth dam, Carols Christmas, produced Grade 1 winner Olympio as well as Call Now, winner of the Del Mar Debutante.

Grand Love
Aug. 21, 6th race Saratoga, MdSpWt105k
Beyer: 84
6 1/2 furlongs 1:17.93 – 1st by 4 3/4 lengths
b. f. 2, Gun Runner – Grand Prayer, by Grand Slam
Noteworthy siblings: Valid (Medaglia d’Oro, foaled 2010) – multiple graded stakes winner, $1.1 million earnings, 111 Beyer; Malibu Prayer (Malibu Moon, foaled 2006) – multiple graded stakes winner, Grade 1 winner, $618K earnings, 103 Beyer
Owner: Three Chimneys Farm
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Breeder: Three Chimneys Farm

While trainer Steve Asmussen’s Aug. 20 debut winner at the Spa, Echo Again, went off the odds-on favorite, Grand Love was a tepid 4-1 in her debut. Which begs the question – why? She’s clearly a very nice filly, and one who had a good speed. Grand Love didn’t break on top, but she was clearly in front after five jumps, an impressive gathering of stride after she broke from post 1. Rarified, who’d been second in her debut, tried to come to her at the quarter pole. Grand Love’s jockey got busy on his filly to keep her focused, and Grand Love responded by opening up again, though that had as much to do with Rarified losing her punch. The rider went to a right-handed crop once, no problem, but the second time he cropped Grand Love, just past the eighth pole, she resented it, ducking in somewhat sharply, which caused her to switch back to her incorrect lead. Didn’t matter, as Grand Love continued pulling clear, appearing to gallop out well in front (though a tight-focus gallop-out shot makes this nearly impossible to determine). The two siblings of note were route horses. Her aging dam hadn’t had a starter since her 2015 foal, Prayer Hope.

Socially Selective
Aug. 17, 5th race Saratoga, MdSpWt105k
Beyer: 82
6 furlongs 1:11.62 – 1st by 7 1/4 lengths
b. f. 2, Speightster – Dharma Girl, by French Deputy
Noteworthy siblings: Native American (Indian Charlie, foaled 2012) – stakes winner, undefeated in five starts, 92 Beyer
Auctions: Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling 2021 – $95,000
Owner: Nine Thirty Racing
Trainer: Bill Mott
Breeder: Mercedes Stable

You just never know with Mr. Bill Mott, do you? His 2-year-olds might not dazzle in their work, and many of them are given races for Mott to get them where he wants them, but if it’s the right horse, Mott absolutely will win with a first-time starter. This was one of those. The filly bounded out of stall 1 and made a clear early lead, ran the turn well, changed leads professionally while drawing quickly clear into the homestretch, and was under a hand ride to widen all the way to the wire while much the best. She’s a relatively compact model with a low, efficient stride, and her two best siblings purely were sprinters. She has talent, whatever her distance range.