Breeders' Cup: Echo Zulu scheduled for surgery after injury during workout
:quality(75))
Echo Zulu, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2021, sustained a sesamoid injury in a workout Friday at Santa Anita and is scheduled to undergo surgery Saturday, trainer Steve Asmussen said.
Echo Zulu was in training for the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita when she was stricken. She was in the midst of a workout when the injury occurred.
Unbeaten in three starts this year, Echo Zulu was a contender for either the Breeders’ Cup Sprint or Filly and Mare Sprint.
“Echo Zulu sustained a biaxial sesamoid bone fracture of the [left front] fetlock during training this morning,” said Asmussen. “She has been stabilized in a Kimzey splint and will undergo surgery for a fetlock arthrodesis” on Saturday.
In an interview, Asmussen said California veterinarian Ryan Carpenter will conduct the surgery to “save her life and let her be the incredible momma she deserves to be.”
Echo Zulu was working in company with stablemate Gunite when she was injured. Jockey Ramon Vazquez was aboard Echo Zulu. Gunite, a multiple graded stakes winner, worked a half-mile in 48.60 seconds in preparation for the BC Sprint or Dirt Mile.
Owned by L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds, Echo Zulu has been a star filly since she won her first start by 5 1/2 lengths in a maiden race at Saratoga in July 2021. By Gun Runner, Echo Zulu was unbeaten in four starts as a 2-year-old in 2021, a season that ended with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar.
In 2022, Echo Zulu won 2 of 4 starts and was second to Goodnight Olive in the BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland last November.
This year, Echo Zulu recorded convincing wins in all three of her starts – the Grade 3 Winning Colors Stakes on May 29 at Churchill Downs, the Grade 2 Honorable Miss Stakes on July 26 at Saratoga, and the Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap on Aug. 26 at Saratoga.
Echo Zulu won each of those races by at least 2 1/2 lengths. She earned 112 Beyer Speed Figures in her last two starts, tied for the highest figures of 2023.
Echo Zulu won 9 of 11 starts and earned $2,640,375.
“She had a level of ability that is beyond rare,” Asmussen said.
– additional reporting by David Grening
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.