Minor injury forces Zulu Alpha out of Breeders' Cup Turf
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Zulu Alpha was not pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Turf after being found last weekend with minor swelling in his left foreleg.
Zulu Alpha, a 7-year-old trained by Mike Maker, has won seven graded turf stakes since Michael Hui claimed him for $80,000 in September 2018. Hui said the initial prognosis is that the injury most likely won’t preclude Zulu Alpha from racing next year at 8.
“It’s inopportune timing, obviously,” Hui said. “From what I understand, the injury is a microscopic thing that he may’ve had for a month or a year and just needs a little time to calcify. There’ll be no surgery. He’ll get some time off and then come back to Mike at Gulfstream Park sometime over the winter.”
Zulu Alpha won 2 of 3 starts over the Gulfstream turf earlier this year, including the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf, then raced three times in Kentucky, including a victory in the Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland in July. His most recent breeze came Oct. 18 at the Trackside training center.
Hui said he was disappointed that Zulu Alpha would not run in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, to be run Nov. 7 at Keeneland, despite the “beautiful plan Mike developed for him this year in trying to make the Breeders’ Cup.”
“We limited his starts, didn’t travel outside the state, and knew how much he liked the Keeneland course,” Hui said. “Everything was done with the Breeders’ Cup in mind, so this is a tough one. Hopefully, we’ll have the same horse next year.”
Without Zulu Alpha, 11 horses are pre-entered in the $4 million BC Turf at 1 1/2 miles. American horses pre-entered are Arklow, Channel Maker, Red King, United, and the filly Mean Mary, who has the Filly and Mare Turf as first preference.
◗ With the Nov. 6-7 Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland just a week or so away, a multitude of final pre-race workouts are scheduled for the coming days, both at Keeneland and Churchill.