Echo Zulu recovering following surgery for sesamoid fractures

ARCADIA, Calif. - Echo Zulu, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2021, was resting in her stall on Sunday morning, less than a day after undergoing emergency surgery for sesamoid fractures sustained during a workout at Santa Anita on Friday.

The surgery, conducted by Ryan Carpenter, was designed to stabilize the injury, which will require months of recovery, according to Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen.

“The surgery went well, as well as expected,” Blasi said. “It’s a one-day-at-a-time situation. You don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself.

“We’ll keep her happy and quiet, and hopefully she can try to sleep as much as she has.”

Blasi said that Echo Zulu has been able to lay down and rise to her feet without difficultly since the injury occurred. The injury is considered severe, with adequate circulation to the affected leg as “the biggest concern,” Blasi said.

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“Today is a good day,” Blasi said late Sunday morning.

Echo Zulu will be housed at Santa Anita until later this week when she is transferred to Chino Valley Equine Clinic to continue recovery, Blasi said.

Echo Zulu was in training for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 4 when she was injured. Unbeaten in three starts this year, Echo Zulu was rated as the pre-race favorite for the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.

Owned by L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds, Echo Zulu has been a star filly since her 2-year-old season in which she was unbeaten, including 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 at Churchill Downs on May 29, the Grade 2 Honorable Miss Stakes at Saratoga on July 26, and the Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 26.

By Gun Runner, Echo Zulu has won 9 of 11 starts and earned $2,640,375.

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