Moger sends Cathkin Peak in San Francisco Mile before move to Kentucky

In one regard, Cathkin Peak is the most popular runner in Saturday’s Grade 3 San Francisco Mile at Golden Gate Fields.

The 6-year-old, a stakes winner way back in 2020, has been claimed for $80,000 in his last two starts at Santa Anita, the most recent of which was a win in an allowance race at 1 1/8 miles on turf on March 24.

Owner Steve Moger, the brother of trainer Ed Moger, Jr., has followed Cathkin Peak’s career and saw the gelding as a suitable claim.

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“He liked the horse off of handicapping, that’s all,” Ed Moger said.

The $105,000 winner’s share of the $175,000 San Francisco Mile would cover Cathkin Peak’s claiming price.

Cathkin Peak has yet to win a graded stakes in his career despite nine starts in such races. The gelding could be Moger’s last chance for a win in a race at that level in California in the foreseeable future.

Moger said on Friday that he is forming a stable at Turfway Park, and has 10 horses currently based at the northern Kentucky track. He plans to expand the division.

“We’ll probably have 16 or 20,” he said on Friday.

The closure of Golden Gate Fields on June 9 is a factor in the decision, along with greater opportunities to run in lucrative stakes in Kentucky and surrounding states.

“There are a lot of races back there,” Moger said. “They run for way more money, and most of them are easier, or as tough, with twice as much money.”

Cathkin Peak was claimed for $80,000 by trainer George Papaprodromou on Feb. 24 when second in an allowance race at a mile at Santa Anita. The Mogers claimed Cathkin Peak in his following start, a win that ended a seven-race losing streak since June 2022.

Cathkin Peak was trained by Phil D’Amato after his arrival from Ireland in 2020 until the February claim. For D’Amato, Cathkin Peak won the minor Eddie Logan Stakes in December 2020 and was later second or third in six stakes, including the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar in November 2021.

In the San Francisco Mile, Cathkin Peak is part of an expected field of 11. Trainer Carla Gaines said in a text message on Friday that Coalinga Road will not be sent to Golden Gate Fields from her base at Santa Anita. Prince Abu Dhabi, who was on the also-eligible list for the San Francisco Mile, was vanned to Santa Anita earlier this week to start in Saturday’s $100,000 Kona Gold Stakes for sprinters, trainer Blaine Wright said.

The San Francisco Mile field is led by Balnikhov, who won the race in 2023; Astronomer, second in the Grade 2 City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita last September; and Sumter, who finished third in the Grade 3 American Stakes at Santa Anita on April 4.

The locally-based runners are led by Lammas, the sharp winner of two allowance races on the synthetic main track in his last two starts.

Moger has horses at Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita, but says having three divisions will be difficult in the future. The Northern California circuit will race on the fair circuit this summer before relocating to the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton in mid-October for an autumn meeting.

Promoters intend to run a meeting at Pleasanton in early 2025 as a replacement for Golden Gate Fields.

Southern California tracks have had their share of struggles too, with purse cuts at Del Mar and Santa Anita in the last year. Del Mar announced a stakes program for its summer meeting this year with $400,000 less in purse money compared to 2023.

Moger said he recently bought a 64-acre farm in Paris, Ky., with a 22-horse stall barn.

“I think eventually we may only be in Kentucky,” he said. “I didn’t want to do it. Things in California haven’t been going in the right direction.”

Moger’s Turfway Park division will soon include Stilleto Boy, a 6-year-old gelding best known for winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in 2023. Stilleto Boy finished third earlier that year in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational, a $3 million race at Gulfstream Park.

Stilleto Boy, owned by Steve Moger, finished last in two starts in Grade 2 stakes at Santa Anita over the winter, the San Antonio Stakes on Dec. 26 and the San Pasqual Stakes on Jan. 27.

“He just starting back,” Moger wsaid. “We gave him 90 days off.”

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