Harvest Moon

1st-SA, $65K, Msw, 3-5yo, 6f, 4:00 p.m. ET. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has an uncoupled entry with 3-year-old Sir Davis (Justify) and 4-year-old Pecos River (McKinzie). The former was a $450,000 Keeneland September grad, while the latter went for $750,000 at the 2024 OBS March sale. Out of MSW Lovely Syn (Freud), Sir Davis is a half-brother to MSW Love in the Air, who was purchased by Japan's Dr. Masatake Iida for $425,000 during the 2023 Keeneland November sale while in foal to Life Is Good. As for...

Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith's As Time Goes By (American Pharoah) has been progressing steadily since last fall and will try to collect her first black-type badge in Saturday's GII Santa Margarita S. at Santa Anita. Third in her career debut sprinting at Del Mar last August, the daughter of MGISW Take Charge Lady (Dehere) returned to finish second to stablemate Himiko (American Pharoah) after setting the pace in the early going at Santa Anita in October. A four-length winner going six panels at Los Alamitos Dec....

Champion Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) crushed her competition on her last trip to the west coast for the GII Santa Anita Oaks last spring and looks to repeat that performance Saturday when she returns to Santa Anita for the GI Beholder Mile. Capturing the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks and GIII Fantasy S. prior to the Santa Anita Oaks last term, the chestnut took on males next out in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. July 11, finishing a respectable second to Art Collector (Bernardini). Returning to winning ways next out in...

Alice Bamford and Michael Tabor's Harvest Moon (Uncle Mo), the only 3-year-old in the four-horse field, put away favored Fighting Mad (New Year's Day) at midstretch and then held off Hard Not To Love (Hard Spun) in the dying strides to win the GII Zenyatta S. at Santa Anita Sunday and earn an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. "I'm absolutely thrilled today, completely over the moon for Harvest Moon," said Bamford. "She's a homebred and she's just so deep in my heart and in my family's heart....

Fighting Mad (New Year's Day) looks to score her third straight victory and stamp her ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff in Sunday's GII Zenyatta S. at Santa Anita. Placed on the shelf after winning the GIII Torrey Pines S. in August of 2019, the West homebred crossed the line third, but was disqualified and placed fourth when making her return in the GIII Desert Stormer S. in May. A decisive winner of the GII Santa Maria S. two weeks later, the bay wired the GI Clement L. Hirsch...

Harvest Moon (Uncle Mo) remained perfect in three starts going long on the dirt and gave her sire yet another new graded winner with a determined success in the GIII Torrey Pines S. on the Pacific Classic undercard. The betting favorite was beaten for speed and was content to race in the one out and one back position with cover rounding the first turn as Secret Keeper (Into Mischief) led narrowly from Provocation (Into Mischief) to her outside. Mike Smith atop the latter upped the ante through the middle stages,...