Churchill Downs: Wicked Halo is out of the Dogwood
Louisville, Ky.
With her stablemate Echo Zulu expected to be a heavy favorite in Saturday night’s Grade 3, $275,000 Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs, Wicked Halo was announced as a scratch, according to a track spokesperson.
As for a next race, there was “no target as yet,” according to a text message from David Fiske, racing manager for Wicked Halo’s owner Winchell Thoroughbreds.
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Connections for both 3-year-old Gun Runner fillies who are owned at least in part by Ron Winchell’s operation and trained by Steve Asmussen suggested as late as Friday that one or the other might be taken out of the race.
Both Echo Zulu and Wicked Halo schooled Saturday morning, and they were not included among the early scratches. Since the “Downs After Dark” card was not scheduled to start until 6 p.m. EDT, there was plenty of time to make the move.
Wicked Halo, who was the 7-2 second choice on the morning line, was drawn outside in the field of seven. It would have been a quick turnaround from her narrow score Sept. 2 at Saratoga in the Prioress (G2), her third win in a row with jockey Tyler Gaffalione.
Echo Zulu, the 2021 champion 2-year-old, drew the rail post and was made the even-money favorite for the Dogwood in what will be her first race in nearly five months. Ricardo Santana Jr. was assigned to ride her for the first time since last year. Joel Rosario had been her jockey in her last three starts.
Owned by Winchell in partnership with L & N Racing, Echo Zulu finished fourth in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) for her first loss in six starts. She was supposed to start in the Acorn (G1) on the Belmont Stakes undercard, but she was a late scratch for what a track veterinarian said was a lame foot. At the time Asmussen was puzzled by the diagnosis. Echo Zulu has not raced since.
The seven-furlong Dogwood for 3-year-old fillies will be run Saturday at 10:11 p.m. EDT on a what should be a fast, main track at Churchill Downs, where the sky will be clear with the temperature in the 70s.