After an 11-race winning streak, Azeri suffered a tendon injury while going for her 12th straight win in the Lady's Secret Breeders' Cup Handicap at Santa Anita. She finished second, but the injury was career-threatening. Laura de Seroux recommended that she be retired, but Michael Paulson decided she could race again and turned her training over to Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. In her first start for Lukas, six months after her injury, Azeri won an unprecedented third consecutive Apple Blossom Handicap. She then lost three races in a row, including the Metropolitan Mile, in which she raced against colts for the first time. Lukas entered her in the Go For Wand Handicap at Saratoga Race Course, where she faced multiple-Grade 1 winner Sightseek, beating that rival by two lengths.