Echo Zulu to Return in Memorial Day Stakes at Lone Star

Though the $100,000 Memorial Day Stakes at Lone Star Park May 29 does not have the purse of the $200,000 Ouija Board Distaff, the $300,000 Texas Derby or the $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile (G3) there, it is the race that drew a North American champion.

Echo Zulu , winner of the Eclipse Award as champion 2-year-old filly of 2021, is scheduled to make her first start of 2023 for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen in the six-furlong test against 10 other older fillies and mares. The 4-year-old daughter of Gun Runner   has not raced since finishing second behind Goodnight Olive  in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) Nov. 5 at Keeneland.

After a 4-for-4 campaign as a juvenile, Echo Zulu won two of four starts last year as a 3-year-old, taking the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) and Dogwood Stakes (G3). Between those wins, she was fourth in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), after which Asmussen elected to point her toward shorter, one-turn races. She missed a start in the Acorn Stakes (G1) in June when scratched in the post parade on the advice of the track veterinarian.

The L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds-owned filly has been training regularly at Churchill Downs leading up to her Monday return.

Echo Zulu looms as a short-priced favorite in the Memorial Day Stakes under Florent Geroux. Adaline Julia  and Kaboom Baby  head the opposition.