Surging sophomore Harvest Moon wins Zenyatta to earn Breeders' Cup bid

The ascent of lightly raced 3-year-old filly Harvest Moon reached new heights on Sunday after vanquishing Grade 1 winner and 2-5 favorite Fighting Mad in the Grade 2, $200,000 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita Park, a "Win and You're In" for the Breeders' Cup Distaff.

It is the fourth straight win for Harvest Moon starting with her maiden score on July 3 at Los Alamitos for trainer Simon Callaghan. Co-owned by breeder Alice Bamford and Coolmore's Michael Tabor, the Uncle Mo filly followed-up graduation day with wins in an entry-level allowance and then the Aug. 22 Torrey Pines (G3), both at Del Mar.

"She took her time to come to hand, but she’s come a long way in a short period of time," Callaghan said.

Sent off the 7-2 third choice in a four-horse field, Harvest Moon was lapped on confirmed front-runner Fighting Mad as she carved opening fractions of :23.37 and :46.41 for the opening half mile of the 1 1/16-miles Zenyatta. Fighting Mad and Luis Saez opened a lead on Harvest Moon down the backstretch, but it wasn't long before that edge was diminished. With six furlongs completed in 1:10.21, Harvest Moon and Flavien Prat had drawn even with the favorite on the second turn, just as second-choice Hard Not to Love had started a bid from well off the pace.

Harvest Moon and Fighting Mad commenced to duel at the top of the stretch with Harvest Moon eventually getting the better of that rival and then holding off a fast-closing Hard Not to Love by three-quarter lengths. Harvest Moon completed the trip in 1:43.03 while paying $9.80.

“We thought Fighting Mad would go to the lead and we wanted to keep pressure on her,” said Prat, who has been aboard for all four of Harvest Moon's wins. “My filly had never been a mile and a sixteenth, but Fighting Mad was carrying 126 pounds.  You never know with a 3-year-old against older, but we got eight pounds, so that was good.  It turned out this was a good distance for my filly and she really ran well.”

Callagan elaborated on the development of Harvest Moon.

“We have been really patient with her early on and that’s a credit to Alice and Michael Tabor,” Callaghan said. "It was said that this filly has a lot of talent and they were so patient throughout the whole process.  She took her time to come to hand, but she’s come a long way in a short period of time."

Bamford bred Harvest Moon out of Qaraaba, who won the 2012 Robert J. Frankel (G3) on grass at Santa Anita. She noted Qaraaba passed away this year "and each time I tell her, ‘Harvest Moon, go and do it for your Mama.’ And she has.

“I’m absolutely thrilled today, completely over the moon for Harvest Moon," Bamford explained. "She’s a homebred and she’s just so deep in my heart and my family’s heart. It was so good to see her so well ridden today, showing off her beautiful stride. She came and did it against a very very good competitor in Fighting Mad.  We’re thrilled and we won, and we are in."