Echo Zulu, Frank's Rockette Clash in Honorable Miss

For all of the talk about the star power in the male sprinters' division, the ladies have some rather brilliant speedsters of their own.

Defending Eclipse Award winner Goodnight Olive  may sit atop the division but there are certainly several bona fide rivals for her, including a couple who will be featured among the four starters July 26 in the six-furlong, $200,000 Honorable Miss Stakes (G2) for fillies and mares 3 years old and up at Saratoga Race Course.

Both L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds' Echo Zulu  and Frank Fletcher Racing Operations' Frank's Rockette  are million-dollar earning, multiple graded stakes-winning sprinters with an array of impressive credentials.

Echo Zulu, a 4-year-old daughter of Gun Runner   with three grade 1 wins to her credit, already owns an Eclipse Award, a trophy for top 2-year-old filly she earned in 2021 for trainer Steve Asmussen.

A perfect 4-for-4 as a juvenile, Echo Zulu's only subpar effort came in her second start at 3, when she found a wet track and the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Kentucky Oaks (G1) beyond her scope. Her only other loss in nine starts was a runner-up finish behind Goodnight Olive in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1).

In her 4-year-old debut, the daughter of the Menifee mare Letgomyecho was an easy 5 3/4-length front-running winner of the May 29 Winning Colors Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs in her first start since the World Championships.

"I think she's training better than she ever has," said David Fiske, racing manager for Winchell Thoroughbreds. "Coming off the layoff over the winter and the body work we did on her, she was great at Churchill and she's doing great now. She is indeed fast."

Echo Zulu was given nearly seven months off after the Breeders' Cup, largely because of a lack of top-level sprints for females.

"She had some ankle issues we cleaned up, but it wasn't anything serious," Fiske said. "There was no place to run after the Breeders' Cup, so we decided to put her on the shelf and try and fix any little nagging things she might have going on with her."

Bred by Betz/J. Betz/Burns/CHNNHK/Magers/CoCoEquine/Ramsby and purchased for $300,000 from the Betz Thoroughbreds consignment at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the $2.25 million earner already owns two wins at the Spa, her debut and the Spinaway Stakes (G1) at 2.

Frank's Rockette, a homebred 6-year-old Into Mischief   mare, is also a gem of consistency with 12 wins in 27 starts, along with nine seconds and three thirds for earnings of $1,408,733.

One of her rare poor efforts came in last year's Filly and Mare Sprint, when she never threatened and finished 11th. Since then, she has reeled off three wins at odds-on prices by a combined 20 3/4 lengths for trainer Bill Mott. When last seen, she scored by three-quarters of a length in the Roxelana Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Rodney Lundock's Maryquitecontrary  cannot be overlooked with a record of six wins in eight starts and two seconds—especially when one of the runner-up finishes was to Goodnight Olive by a length last time out in the April 8 Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland. The 4-year-old First Dude   filly is trained by Shug McGaughey.

The outsider in the field, Cash is King and LC Racing's Dr B  (Liam's Map  ), is coming off a fourth for trainer Butch Reid behind Goodnight Olive in the seven-furlong Bed o' Roses Stakes (G2) at Belmont Park.