Trainer Ed Moger Jr. has been an integral part of the California racing scene since 1990
Trainer Ed Moger Jr. notes that he essentially walked out of high school and onto the racetrack.
“I worked for Jay Mills in Washington for maybe one year, but pretty quickly I was training on my own,” he said.
Moger saddled his first runner in 1976, winning his first race. He added three more wins that season with a diminutive stable. In the years since, he has seen considerable success, winning graded stakes races and reaching the $1 million earnings mark in 17 different seasons. Now, the 65-year-old California-based conditioner is working to attract brand new clients into the sport of horse racing.
After getting his start in Washington, Moger moved to the Bay Area in 1990.
He currently trains in both Northern and Southern California, with about 40 total head on the track at any one time. An active member of the racing community, he has served as the president of California Thoroughbred Trainers and on that board for 15 years.
As could be expected for one so involved in the game, Moger found that success followed. California-bred Phaenna, by Frankly Perfect–Redsand Dancer, by Desert Wine, won stakes races at Solano, Santa Anita, Bay Meadows, and Santa Rosa en route to earnings of $429,437. Another Cal-bred, Zoning In, was a Hollywood Park and Bay Meadows stakes winner while also placing in graded company for earnings of $289,354. Native Treasure was a crack 2-year-old. The Cal-bred son of Tribal Rule–Visual Treat, by Bertrando, won the 2012 I’m Smokin Stakes at Del Mar despite 14-1 odds.
Trained by Moger for Curt & Lila Lanning, Cal-bred Qiaona turned her $4,500 yearling price into $657,027 in earnings over six seasons of racing
Then there was Gentle Charmer, a $17,000 yearling purchase in 2003 by longtime clients Curt and Lila Lanning. The Cal-bred daughter of Bertrando–Triple Charm, by Great Charmer, won seven of 30 starts and had 19 top-three efforts to her name when she retired in 2008. She took the $150,000 California Cup Distaff in 2007 at 54-1, then sold for $50,000 in foal to Yes It’s True a year later.
Moger remembered Qiaona, who earned $657,027 despite costing the Lannings only $4,500 as a yearling.
“She was always sound,” he said.
Qiaona ran in 23 stakes races over six seasons, winning the $300,750 California Breeders Champion Stakes in 2013 and the $100,500 California Distaff Handicap nine months later.
“She was a nice one,” Moger said. “We ended up selling her to a breeder in Kentucky when she retired because she was slowing down a little bit. Now I’ve got one of her babies at my ranch.”
Moger has a 40-acre farm in Galt, Calif., where he has seven broodmares in partnership and another 13 boarded for clients.
Tribal Storm, shown winning the Lost in the Fog Stakes at Golden Gate Fields, was another of the many successes Moger had with the Lannings
“We foal out babies and board horses from the racetrack,” he said. “Some of our bigger clients include Andy Mathis, Blaine Wright, and Bob Hess Jr.”
An avid horse lover, Moger couldn’t pick a favorite among his numerous stars.
“Stormy Lucy was the best racehorse, obviously, and not just because she won the grade 1,” he said. “She just ran hard every single time. But I love all my horses, I love seeing them in the morning and putting my hands on them. They’ve all got their own personalities. I can’t wait to be with them each day.”
Stormy Lucy was the horse of a lifetime. The Kentucky-bred daughter of Stormy Atlantic–Here Comes Lucinda, by Dixieland Band, won eight of 34 starts and earnings of $851,700. A mere
$24,000 juvenile purchase, she was originally in training with Frank Lucarelli and was not only grade 1-placed, but good enough to contest the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T).
Grade 1 winner Stormy Lucy is among Moger’s favorite horses because of her competitive nature that saw her win eight of 34 starts, including the Santa Barbara Handicap, above
After Stormy Lucy won the Santa Ana Stakes (G2T) in 2014, Lucarelli’s client, Erica Gaunt, wanted to sell, so Moger’s brother Steve bought her privately for $500,000 and transferred her into Ed’s barn. There were no hard feelings, as Moger and Lucarelli went to high school together and remained friends.
Ed Moger, right, in the Santa Anita winner’s circle following the victory of Stormy Lucy in the Santa Barbara Handicap
Stormy Lucy rewarded her new connections immediately, winning the $150,750 Santa Barbara Handicap (G3T) just a month later. She was grade 1-placed in 2015 before finally breaking through and taking the $302,250 Matriarch Stakes (G1T) by a head at odds of 65-1.
“That was my first–and only–grade 1,” Moger said, “and it came at Del Mar.” Stormy Lucy was subse-quently sold at auction for $575,000.
With nearly $34 million in career earnings and 1,891 wins, Moger has turned his focus to attracting new clients. His comprehensive website, mogerracing. com, has a frequently asked questions section answering common questions posed by new owners. The website walks clients through the thrills of seeing your own horse in the morning, in the paddock, on the track, and ultimately in the winner’s circle.
“Just in the last couple of months we’ve had new guys getting in at small percentages, but they’d never been in the business before,” Moger said. “We’ve got to attract new clients.”
It’s a good year to be Moger, with 25 wins so far this season. Six of those wins came from juveniles; all but one were Cal-breds. Love Candy, by Danzing Candy, has won two of three starts so far, and debut winner Drinking Again ran second in the $76,800 Everett Nevin Stakes at Pleasanton last out. Third in that race was stablemate Hijo Galante, who has since improved his record to two wins, a second, and a third in five starts.
“We’ve got some 2-year-olds that haven’t run yet that look promising,” Moger said.
With Moger’s consistent results year in and year out, it certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea to join his team as an owner