There was no doubt heading into the May 29 Winning Colors Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs that champion Echo Zulu would be the one to beat, and she knew it, too.
Grabbing the lead quickly from the gate, the 4-year-old Gun Runner filly, who arrived from an extended layoff, ran a confident opening quarter under a loose hold from Florent Geroux in :21.75 while Fire On Time pressed the pace in second. At the top of the stretch in :44.62, Martin Garcia urged Fire On Time to put a neck in front but the small victory disappeared just as quickly when Echo Zulu turned on her engine to rip away down the lane in :56.41. At the wire it was clear sailing for the multiple grade 1 winner, who finished the six-furlong dirt event 5 3/4 lengths in front for a final time of 1:08.99.
Fire On Time was second, and Last Leaf was third.
"She's an unbelievable filly. We're just extremely fortunate to have her to race. Being a champion and still being in training, thank you, Winchell Thoroughbreds and L and N (Racing), Levinson and Nelson. She's just very special, just an extremely fast filly, very competitive, and it's great to get her season started off like this," said Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.
ECHO ZULU is back for her 4-year-old campaign dominating The GIII Winning Colors!
— Churchill Downs (@ChurchillDowns) May 29, 2023
Congrats to the connections on your graded stakes win! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/VTkTwBW6Dr
From nine starts, Echo Zulu ($2.62) has found the winner's circle in seven of her races for Winchell and L and N Racing, including three wins in grade 1 company during her juvenile year in the Spinaway Stakes, Frizette Stakes, and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. She capped her 2022 season with a runner-up finish behind eventual champion Goodnight Olive in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) and had yet to race again until the Winning Colors.
At the conclusion of the Memorial Day race, Echo Zulu's earnings increased to $2,255,375.
"(There were) not a lot of nominations in this race, she's ready to run and deserved to. For her to come out of the box and go eight and four, it's a great start to the year," Asmussen said.
Looking ahead to the summer season, Asmussen said the star filly could start in the Aug. 26 Ballerina Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, where she broke her maiden and earned her first grade 1.
"That is one of the targets. She's run so well at Saratoga that we do expect to run her there," he said.
Bred in Kentucky by Betz/J. Betz/Burns/CHNNHK/Magers/CoCo Equine/Ramsby, Echo Zulu was a $300,000 purchase by Winchell from the Betz Thoroughbreds consignment at the 2020 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. She is out of the grade 2 winning Menifee mare Letgomyecho, who has nine winners from 11 foals to race, including grade 1 winner Echo Town and grade 3 winner J Boys Echo. Her last reported foal is an unraced 3-year-old American Pharoah filly named Doing Justice, who sold for $1.4 million to Northshore Bloodstock at the 2021 Keeneland September sale. The filly had been working early in the year at Payson Park Training Center in South Florida.
