‘Brilliant' Echo Zulu will be short price in Frizette
ELMONT, N.Y. – Coming off a pair of dominant victories at Saratoga, Echo Zulu comes to Belmont Park as a strong favorite in Sunday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette Stakes, hoping to obtain the fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar on Nov. 5.
Echo Zulu became the first Grade 1 winner produced by the freshman sire Gun Runner when she overcame a slight bobble at the break to dominate the Spinaway by four lengths at Saratoga on Sept. 5. Fifty-two days earlier, Echo Zulu won a 5 1/2-furlong maiden race by 5 1/2 lengths, giving Asmussen his first of what would become a personal-best 19 wins at the Saratoga meet
“She’s run twice, she’s run brilliant, what else could I want from her?” said Asmussen, who has won the Frizette three times. “She’s trained really well since. I hope she stays brilliant.”
Echo Zulu, a half-sister to the Grade 1 sprint winner Echo Town, will be attempting the mile distance for the first time, but that doesn’t appear to be an issue. She will break from post 6 in the field of nine under Ricardo Santana Jr.
Like Asmussen, trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Frizette three times, most recently in 2012 with Dreaming of Julia. Sunday, he sends out both Jester Calls Nojoy and A Mo Reay in the Frizette.
Jester Calls Nojoy, a daughter of Maclean’s Music, won a seven-furlong maiden race by 10 lengths at Saratoga on Sept. 5 after finishing second three weeks earlier in her debut.
“I was surprised she got beat the first time,” Pletcher said. “She trained really well and we expected a good performance. She ran against a filly making I think her third start that day, so maybe just the lack of experience and she got a little tired the last part. What we saw in her second start was kind of more what we were seeing in the mornings from her.”
A Mo Reay, a daughter of Uncle Mo, finished a wide-rallying third, beaten a half-length, in her only start.
“She ran to us what was a winning-type effort,” Pletcher said. “She closed really well. She acts liked the added distance will help. In a race that looks like it has plenty of pace, for a filly that looks like she wants to settle, it could be a good setup for her.”
Luis Saez rides Jester Calls Nojoy from post 7, while Jose Lezcano rides A Mo Reay from post 2.
Saucy Lady T, who finished third in all three graded stakes for juvenile fillies at Saratoga, is back to where she won her maiden by five lengths in the slop last April.
Completing the field are Frosty Brew, a debut winner at Laurel Park for five-time Frizette-winning trainer Shug McGaughey, Hot Fudge, Jumeirah, Gerrymander, and Magic Circle.
The Frizette goes as race 9 on a 10-race card that begins at 1 p.m. and includes the Grade 3, $300,000 Waya Stakes for females on turf and the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim Stakes for juvenile on turf.