Echo Zulu dominates in season debut
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Eclipse Award champion Echo Zulu opened her season with a powerful victory, rolling by 5 3/4 lengths Grade 3, $225,000 Winning Colors Stakes on Monday at Churchill Downs.
This was the sixth career graded stakes victory for heavily-favored Echo Zulu ($2.62), a 4-year-old daughter of Gun Runner trained by Steve Asmussen for Winchell Thoroughbreds and L and N Racing.
“This was a great start to her year," Asmussen said. "She’s just a wonderful filly. I’m very thankful for the owners, Lee Levinson of L and N Racing and Ron Winchell of Winchell Thoroughbreds."
The filly won all four starts at 2, including a trio of Grade 1 races in the Spinaway, Frizette, and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, to secure a divisional championship. She opened her 3-year-old season with a nose win in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks by a nose. She incurred her first loss when a game fourth in the Kentucky Oaks, and then remainder of her campaign was delayed after she was a vet scratch at the gate for the Grade 1 Acorn.
After a freshening, Echo Zulu returned last September, winning the Grade 3 Dogwood at Churchill Downs. She was second in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland to conclude the year.
On Monday, with Florent Geroux in the irons for the first time, Echo Zulu broke alertly from post 4 in the field of five, and ticked off sharp opening splits of 21.75 seconds for the quarter and 44.62 for the half while pressed by Fire On Time on her outside. Echo Zulu easily shook off her foe when straightened away into the stretch, quickly drawing off and widening as she pleased to her final margin.
She finished the six furlongs on the fast track in 1:08.99.
"She broke really well today and took herself right to the front," Geroux said. "We had some pressure on her outside, but she was traveling very comfortably the entire race.”
Fire On Time was a clear second by a length over Last Leaf, who edged Spirit Wind by a head for third. After fourth-place Spirit Wind, it was six lengths back to Marissa's Lady, never involved while rounding out the order of finish.
"They were going pretty fast, but we were just second best today to a very nice filly," Dale Romans, trainer of Fire On Time, said.
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