After another season of sustained excellence, Echo Zulu finds herself an Eclipse Award finalist for the third consecutive year. A perfect 3-for-3 record in 2023 makes her a contender for champion female sprinter. Echo Zulu was bred in Kentucky by Betz, J. Betz, Burns, CHNNHK, Magers, CoCo Equine, and Ramsby. She was a $300,000 yearling purchase at the 2020 Keeneland September sale by Winchell Thoroughbreds, which went on to campaign her in partnership with L and N Racing. Echo Zulu is from the first crop of 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner, co-campaigned by Winchell and Three Chimneys Farm. She was trained by Steve Asmussen, who also conditioned her sire and was thus in a unique position to evaluate her. :: Full list of 2023 Eclipse Awards finalists, including profile stories “The development that she has shown is so much like her father,” Asmussen said in summer 2023. “The longer you had him, the faster he was, and that’s how she’s been.” It was hard to imagine there was more development to come when Echo Zulu was the 2021 Eclipse Award champion 2-year-old filly, winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies as well as two other Grade 1 events in the Spinaway and Frizette. In 2022, she won the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks and was a creditable fourth in the Kentucky Oaks. She cut back to one turn to win the Grade 3 Dogwood, then finished second to champion Goodnight Olive in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, with another champion, Ce Ce, finishing fourth. Echo Zulu was named an Eclipse Award finalist in the female sprint category for 2022. In 2023, Echo Zulu showed her best, winning all three of her starts by a combined 15 1/2 lengths and earning career-best Beyer Speed Figures along the way. She re-emerged in May to lead throughout in the Grade 3 Winning Colors at Churchill Downs, scoring by 5 3/4 lengths. She went on to dominate the Grade 2 Honorable Miss in July at Saratoga, rolling by 7 1/4 lengths while geared down. Echo Zulu caught a sloppy track for her rematch with Goodnight Olive in the Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap on Aug. 26 at Saratoga. She set a pressured pace of 22.45 seconds for the opening quarter and 45.23 for the half, at which point she was a head in front of the reigning filly-sprint champion. Echo Zulu edged clear, then powered away in the final yards to win by 2 1/2 lengths. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. “Felt like I was in control pretty much all the way through the race,” regular rider Florent Geroux said despite the pressure throughout. “She’s amazing. I’m just very grateful for the opportunity the owners and Steve Asmussen have given me to ride her. She’s a champion, and I’m just the lucky pilot.” Echo Zulu earned a career-high Beyer of 112 in both the Honorable Miss and Ballerina. Those figures tied for the highest Beyers of the season with the 112 that Cody’s Wish ran in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap. Echo Zulu was preparing for the Breeders’ Cup when she sustained fractured sesamoids in a workout Oct. 13 at Santa Anita. She underwent a successful repair surgery, and as of December was continuing a steady recovery at the Chino Valley Equine Clinic. Echo Zulu concluded her career with a record of nine wins and one second from 11 starts, and earnings of $2,640,375. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.