Breeders' Cup Distaff: Harvest Moon makes rapid ascent
ARCADIA, Calif. – Chances are slim that a Breeders’ Cup race on dirt would be won by a horse with a European turf pedigree and an English trainer who began his career focusing exclusively on turf.
Not only that, but Harvest Moon is barely seasoned. The 3-year-old made the first start of her career in June, on grass, and has raced just five times. The Distaff has never been won with such limited experience; Royal Delta raced seven times before her 2011 victory. But then, few develop as rapidly as Harvest Moon, trained by Simon Callaghan.
“It’s kind of remarkable what she’s done in such a short space of time,” he said this week at Santa Anita. “From breaking her maiden in summer at Los Al, to being where she is now, taking on the best dirt fillies in the country, with a realistic outside shot.”
Although she faces a tall order against Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver, Harvest Moon enters the Distaff like a rocket – maiden winner second out in early July, allowance winner in late July, Grade 3 winner in August, and Grade 2 winner against older fillies and mares in September. Her ascending Beyer Speed Figures include a 97 last out.
Harvest Moon is owned by breeder Alice Bamford and Michael Tabor, and it would be ironic if the homebred from a turf family gave Callaghan, 37, his first Breeders’ Cup win, on dirt. Callaghan, son of English trainer Neville Callaghan, opened his California stable in 2010 with a small string of European imports. It’s what he knew.
Thirty-seven of Callaghan’s first 40 wins were turf races, including 10 graded stakes. By the time European import Qaraaba won the Grade 3 Robert J. Frankel Stakes in late 2012, Callaghan was formulating plans to expand his stable to include dirt horses.
“A few years in, I realized the importance of dirt racing. It’s such a huge part of the game here,” he said. “To acquire the better horses here, you have to acquire top dirt horses. We made an effort to start trying to buy them at sales.”
Fashion Plate was the first big-ticket success. A $340,000 purchase in 2013, she won back-to-back Grade 1s the following spring, including the Santa Anita Oaks. Everyone knew Callaghan could train a turf horse. Turns out, he also could train a dirt horse.
Taris already was a graded winner when she sold for $2.35 million in 2014 and moved to Callaghan. She subsequently won four graded stakes, including the Grade 1 Humana Distaff, and probably was best finishing third in the 2015 BC Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland. Callaghan also won Grade 1 dirt races with American Gal, Bellafina, and Abel Tasman.
Donna Veloce, now retired, nearly provided Callaghan his first Breeders’ Cup victory last year when she missed by a neck in the Juvenile Fillies in just her second start. Early this year, the unraced Harvest Moon hardly seemed a Distaff candidate. Her debut was delayed by minor issues until spring of her 3-year-old year.
Even before she ran, Callaghan sensed Harvest Moon had attributes of her dam.
“Qaraaba was Grade 1-caliber without any question, she was that talented,” he said. “We always had it in our mind about going the [dirt] route with her, the way she was physically made, the way she worked on dirt.”
A soft-tissue injury ended dirt plans, and Qaraaba became a broodmare. Her second foal was Grade 2 winner Californiagoldrush. Harvest Moon, by Uncle Mo, is her third foal. Qaraaba, who died early this year, has a Munnings 2-year-old colt and a yearling by Air Force Blue.
Harvest Moon, at 17 hands, gave Callaghan the opportunity her dam missed.
“We ran [Harvest Moon] once on turf, but she looked more comfortable on the dirt in the morning. And Uncle Mos can pretty much do anything,” he said.
Harvest Moon is 4 for 4 on dirt.
Callaghan would join a growing list of trainers who won the Distaff with a daughter of a mare he previously trained. Those include D. Wayne Lukas (Lady’s Secret), James Day (Dance Smartly), Tom Proctor (One Dreamer), Shug McGaughey (Inside Information), Steve Asmussen (Untapable), and Dallas Stewart (Forever Unbridled).
In addition to Harvest Moon, Callaghan’s Breeders’ Cup candidates include Madone in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Bellafina in the Filly and Mare Sprint. Both are 12-1 on the Daily Racing Form preliminary line; Harvest Moon is 8-1 fourth choice in the Distaff. Callaghan acknowledges the challenge and the importance.
“We’ve won lots of Grade 1 races [15], and they’re important in their own right,” he said. “But winning an Oaks, a Derby, a Breeders’ Cup . . . we’ve been there with good chances going in and not quite got it done. It’s definitely something we want to do.”