Harvest Moon searches for a place to set

Harvest Moon is a filly without an early autumn race goal.

Harvest Moon won her stakes debut in the Grade 3 Torrey Pines Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile at Del Mar on Saturday. In most years, such an improving filly would be considered for the Grade 1 Cotillion Stakes, a $1 million race run in late September at Parx Racing.

The coronavirus pandemic led to the cancellation of that race this year and has left trainer Simon Callaghan unsure of what to do with Harvest Moon.

“I would have loved to have run in the Cotillion,” he said Sunday morning. “There is nothing for 3-year-olds on dirt.”

Callaghan said the Grade 2 Zenyatta Stakes at 1 1/16 miles against older fillies and mares at Santa Anita on Sept. 27 is an option, along with the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks, a $250,000 race at 1 1/4 miles on turf on Sept. 19.

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The Zenyatta Stakes will include several of the leading older females in California in a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland on Nov. 7. The Belmont Oaks would be a different challenge since Harvest Moon has not won on turf.

Harvest Moon does have breeding that suggests the surface is not an issue. By Uncle Mo, Harvest Moon is out of Qaraaba, who won the Grade 3 Robert Frankel Stakes on turf at Santa Anita in December 2012 for Callaghan and owners Alice Bamford and Michael Tabor. Bamford and Tabor own Harvest Moon.

Harvest Moon is a half-sister to Californiagoldrush, who won the Grade 2 Sands Point Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on turf at Belmont Park in 2018 and raced only on turf in a five-race career.

“I trained the mother and it has a little extra sentiment,” Callaghan said of Harvest Moon’s pedigree.

“She’s a big filly and we’ve been super patient with her.”

Harvest Moon has won 3 of 4 starts. After finishing third in her debut on turf at Santa Anita on June 12, Harvest Moon is unbeaten in three starts at a mile on the main track – a sequence that includes a win in a maiden race at Los Alamitos on July 3 and a first-condition optional claimer at Del Mar on July 27.