Breeders' Cup | Horse Racing Free Tips

Echo Zulu Brilliant Again in Frizette

There have been other impressive performances turned in by 2-year-old fillies in recent weeks (namely Hidden Connection {Connect} in the GIII Pocahontas S. and Ain't Easy {Into Mischief} in the GII FrontRunner S.), but 'TDN Rising Star' Echo Zulu (Gun Runner) reaffirmed her spot at the top of the division Sunday as she blew away her competition in Belmont's GI Frizette S., a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

The L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds colorbearer was a 5 1/2-length debut winner over a field that included subsequent two-time Florida-bred stakes dominator Outfoxed (Valiant Minister) on opening day at Saratoga July 15–good for a very strong 92 Beyer Speed Figure. She made similarly short work of the GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga Sept. 5, contributing to a highly memorable meet for her connections that got even better when Gunite closed things out with a win in the GI Champagne S. to complete an unprecedented double for freshman sire Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}).

Backed at 35 cents on the dollar to carry her brilliance over an additional furlong Sunday, Echo Zulu wasted no time taking command as Brown/Klaravich representative Gerrymander (Into Mischief) applied some pressure through splits of :22.94 and :46.37 (according to Trakus). There was a brief moment midway around the turn when Echo Zulu looked like she might let her competition into the race, but as soon as her nose pointed for home, she slammed the door. Ricardo Santana, Jr. hit the gas, and she poured it on at will, running the score up to 7 1/4 lengths from the staying-on Gerrymander. Maiden A Mo Reay (Uncle Mo) came out on top of a blanket finish for third.

“It's amazing. She's a special filly and she's by Gun Runner. How much better can it get? She's better than good,” said all-time winningest trainer Steve Asmussen. “She's a Spinaway and a Frizette winner. That's elite company. I'm proud of her. Good energy though the wire. She didn't stagger in there and she set honest fractions.”

The Hall of Fame trainer had won the Frizette three times previously, perhaps most notably in 2011 with the similarly brilliant My Miss Aurelia (Smart Strike), who subsequently ran to favoritism at the Breeders' Cup to lock up an Eclipse Award.

“The filly obviously has a tremendous amount of ability and I think the big jump is to get to this level,” said Asmussen when asked about the upcoming two-turn test at Del Mar. “The Spinaway and the Frizette –that sort of foundation and doing it multiple times gives you a tremendous amount of confidence. My worry was the Spinaway off one 5 1/2-furlong race with the [lack of] seasoning. The Spinaway and Frizette have eased all those tensions, now it's just up to how fast everybody is.”

Santana added, “She's special. She broke her maiden and we never expected she was ready first time out in Saratoga. How she did it [shows] she has some ability and she proved it today… She broke good and was waiting for the company. When the company got to her, she took off again. She's really special.”

Sunday, Belmont Park
FRIZETTE S.-GI, $400,000, Belmont, 10-3, 2yo, f, 1m, 1:35.12, ft.
1–ECHO ZULU, 120, f, 2, by Gun Runner
1st Dam: Letgomyecho (GSW, $136,200), by Menifee
2nd Dam: Echo Echo Echo, by Eastern Echo
3rd Dam: Kashie West, by Sir Ivor
'TDN Rising Star' ($300,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-L and N Racing
LLC & Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC; B-Betz/J. Betz/Burns/
CHNNHK/Magers/CoCo Equine/Ramsby (KY); T-Steven M.
Asmussen; J-Ricardo Santana, Jr. $220,000. Lifetime Record:
3-3-0-0, $440,000. *1/2 to Unbridled Outlaw (Unbridled's
Song), GSP, $253,478; J Boys Echo (Mineshaft), GSW,
$377,543; and Echo Town (Speightstown), GISW, $410,020.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Gerrymander, 120, f, 2, Into Mischief–Ruby Lips (GSP), by
Hard Spun. ($375,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP). O-Klaravich Stables,
Inc.; B-Town & Country Horse Farms, LLC & Pollock Farms (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown. $80,000.
3–A Mo Reay, 120, f, 2, Uncle Mo–Margaret Reay (GSP,
$133,455), by Pioneerof the Nile. ($400,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP).
O-My Racehorse Stable & Spendthrift Farm LLC; B-T & G Farm
of Kentucky LLC (KY); T-Todd A. Pletcher. $48,000.
Margins: 7 1/4, 3, NK. Odds: 0.35, 10.60, 6.50.
Also Ran: Magic Circle, Saucy Lady T, Jester Calls Nojoy, Hot Fudge, Jumeirah, Frosty Brew. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:

Gun Runner has been represented by four graded stakes winners already in his first crop, including the aforementioned Gunite, who was fifth in Saturday's GI Champagne S.; fellow Winchell/Asmussen filly Wicked Halo, who took Saratoga's GII Adirondack S. in August; and GII Best Pal S. hero Pappacap, second in Friday's GI American Pharoah S. at Santa Anita on the stretch out. Tony Holmes and Winchell's Concept (Gun Runner) broke his maiden in Remington's Kip Deville S. Sept. 26 while earning a 92 Beyer.

Gun Runner's yearlings were, unsurprisingly, highly coveted at Keeneland September, with a top-priced colt bringing $975,000 and six youngsters selling for $625,000 or more. The Three Chimneys resident's 40 sellers at KEESEP grossed $13,037,000 at an average of $325,925 and median of $280,000.

Echo Zulu's dam was talented herself, winning by 5 1/2 lengths in her Calder debut as a newly turned 3-year-old and streaking to three-for-three in the 2005 GII Forward Gal S. L and N Racing and Asmussen campaigned Letgomyecho's son Echo Town, who took last term's GI H. Allen Jerkens S. and completed his first season at Coolmore's Ashford Stud this year. Echo Zulu's yearling half-sister was also extremely popular at Keeneland September–she topped the first session of the sale on a $1.4-million bid made on behalf of Joe Allen. Ron Winchell bought the second topper that day. Click here for more.

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Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf A Consideration For Consumer Spending

Klaravich Stables Inc.'s Consumer Spending will be under consideration for the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf following her impressive victory in the $150,000 Selima Saturday at Laurel Park.

Trainer Chad Brown said Sunday that the 2-year-old More Than Ready filly was doing well following her second consecutive victory and first in a stakes. Out of the Scat Daddy mare Siempre Mia, she made her first two starts this summer over the grass at Saratoga.

It was the second straight Selima win for Brown following Fluffy Socks at historic Pimlico Race Course. Fluffy Socks won the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante later last fall and was most recently third in the Aug. 21 G1 Del Mar Oaks.

“She's certainly a horse with a bright future. She's run really well in all three of her starts to date,” Brown said. “We'll see what we do from here. The Juvenile Fillies Turf has to be considered at this point, given the way she won yesterday. We'll see how she's training this month.”

The one-mile Juvenile Fillies Turf will be run Nov. 5 at Del Mar. Brown has won five of the 12 editions of the race with Maram (2009), Lady Eli (2014), New Money Honey (2016), Rushing Fall (2017) and Newspaperofrecord (2018). Lady Eli in 2017 and Rushing Fall in 2020 would later be named female turf champions.

In 2019, Sharing won the Selima off a maiden victory and went on to upset the Juvenile Fillies Turf at odds of nearly 14-1 for trainer Graham Motion.

Consumer Spending, favored at 2-5 in the Selima, trailed all but one of her seven rivals through a half-mile and was still in need of room on the far turn before she was able to split horses and sprint clear in open ground, pulling away from the field even while jockey Victor Carrasco had her wrapped up nearing the wire.

“She ran well. On the turn there it didn't look like she was doing much running at one point and I was concerned, but then she grabbed the bit again and finished strong,” Brown said. “All in all, it was an impressive performance.”

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Arrest Me Red On Track For Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint After Win At Belmont

Lael Stables' homebred Arrest Me Red, a 3-year-old Pioneerof the Nile colt, bested his elders with a gate-to-wire score in Saturday's Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational at six furlongs over the firm inner turf.

With Irad Ortiz, Jr. up for trainer Wesley Ward, Arrest Me Red set splits of 22.33 seconds and 45.75 en route to a one-length win in a final time of 1:07.86.

Arrest Me Red made his first four starts for trainer Arnaud Delacour, including a score in the six-furlong Atlantic Beach in November on the Big A turf.

Transferred to Ward's care at Keeneland for a sophomore campaign, the sizable colt breezed six times over the main track before the conditioner shipped him to Saratoga where he trained forwardly on the Oklahoma training turf.

Arrest Me Red made his seasonal debut with a neck score in the Mahony at 5 1/2-furlongs on the Saratoga turf.

“He's a beautiful horse. We got him here at Keeneland and he had several workouts but wasn't very impressive at all,” Ward said. “He was getting outworked and for a big, sturdy bugger you'd expect a lot more because he's a sturdy and imposing-type horse. He's like a big tank. I put him with just average horses and they bested him in the mornings.

“We got him up to Saratoga on the turf and away he went,” Ward continued. “There's horses-for-courses and horses-for-surfaces and this guy is a grass specialist.”

Ward said he was pleased with Saturday's effort and that Arrest Me Red will now point to the G1, $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, a five-furlong test on Nov. 6 at Del Mar.

“It's nice when a plan comes through,” Ward said. “He came out of the race great and scoped clean, so off we go.”

Ward is likely to have a big presence in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint with Golden Pal, Campanelle and Kimari all under consideration.

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‘Why Not?’: Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Likely Destination For Champagne Winner Jack Christopher

Rising star Jack Christopher passed the Grade 1 test with flying colors in Saturday's $500,000 Champagne, earning a 93 Beyer with a 2 3/4-length win in the one-turn mile for juveniles.

In victory, the chestnut son of Munnings secured a “Win and You're In” entry to the Grade 1, $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Del Mar.

Jack Christopher gave trainer Chad Brown his third Champagne victory, previously scoring with Practical Joke [2016] and Complexity [2018]. Brown finished second in the 2017 Champagne with subsequent Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner and champion 2-year-old Good Magic.

“We were obviously very pleased with the race,” said Brown's Belmont-based assistant Dan Stupp. “He ate up well last night and we're happy with how he looked this morning.”

Jack Christopher, owned by Jim Bakke, Gerald Isbister, Coolmore Stud and Peter Brant, arrived at the Champagne off a sharp 8 3/4-length triumph going six furlongs on Aug. 28 at Saratoga Race Course.

Jack Christopher will face a new test going two turns with a start in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Nov. 5 at Del Mar on the horizon.

“The way he was able to relax and rate and with his running style, why not? He didn't do anything that would stop us from trying. He handled the extra ground very well,” Stupp said.

Earlier on the card, Brown saddled juvenile fillies Kinchen and McKulick to a respective second and third when chasing a leisurely pace in the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo.

Klaravich Stables' McKulick earned black type in her first graded stakes attempt following a 1 /16-mile victory at first asking on Aug. 8 over the Mellon turf at Saratoga over stable mate Consumer Spending, who won the Selima at Laurel Park on Saturday.

Still a maiden, Kinchen arrived off a narrow second at maiden level to Hail To, who finished fifth in the Miss Grillo.

“Obviously, we're disappointed to not get the win,” Stupp said. “The way the race set up and the way the turf was playing they came up short yesterday, but they made good accounts for themselves. They both looked good this morning.”

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