Accelerate (USA)
March 10, 2013 – Living
Lookin At Lucky (USA) x Issues (USA), by Awesome Again (CAN)
Family A13
March 10, 2013 – Living
Lookin At Lucky (USA) x Issues (USA), by Awesome Again (CAN)
Family A13
A good horse at 3 and 4, Accelerate rose to the top of his crop at 5. He won five Grade 1 races and lost only once in seven starts, a resume that ordinarily would have earned him American Horse of the Year honors as well as the title of champion older male. Unfortunately for him, the cachet of Justify’s American Triple Crown sweep and unbeaten six-for-six campaign was enough to gain the Horse of the Year title for the 3-year-old. Accelerate went to stud in Kentucky in 2019.
Race record
23 starts, 10 wins, 5 seconds, 6 third, US$6.692,480
2016:
2017:
2018:
2019:
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion older dirt male (2019)
Assessments
Rated at 115 pounds on the 2017 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings in both the Mile and Intermediate categories, 19 pounds below overall highweight Arrogate.
Rated at 128 pounds on the 2018 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 2 pounds below co-highweights Cracksman and Winx but tops among dirt horses worldwide.
As an individual
A ruggedly made chestnut horse, Accelerate tended to be anxious and overeager when racing as a young horse but became more patient with maturity. He could sometimes be difficult at the gate.
As a stallion
Accelerate entered stud in Kentucky in 2019 at Lane’s End Farm. His first winner was Musicmansandy, who broke her maiden at first asking at Delaware Park on June 22, 2022. He got his first stakes winner on November 5, 2022, when his son Hal won the Display Stakes (CAN-L) at Woodbine.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Accelerate was bred by Mike Abraham. A $380,000 purchase from the 2014 Keeneland September sale, he raced for Hronis Racing (Kosta and Pete Hronis). He was trained by John Sadler. He entered stud in Kentucky in 2019 at Lane's End Farm.
Pedigree notes
Accelerate is inbred 3x5 to two-time American champion sire Mr. Prospector, 5x5x5 to the great international sire Northern Dancer (the 1964 American champion 3-year-old male and Canadian Horse of the Year), and 5x5 to 1979 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Smartaire. He is a half brother to Grade 1-placed listed stakes winner Daddy D T (by Scat Daddy) and to Grade 3-placed listed stakes winner Amarisg (by Scat Daddy).
Accelerate is out of stakes-placed Issues, whose dam, multiple listed stakes-placed Darlin Echo, is an Eastern Echo half sister to 1998 Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA-G1) winner Wagon Limit (by Conquistador Cielo). Darlin Echo is also a half sister to Taine (by Sir Ivor), dam of Grade 2 winner Puzzlement (by Pine Bluff) and Group 3-placed Japanese listed stakes winner Central Coast (by War Chant).
Darlin Echo, in turn, is out of stakes-placed Darlin Lindy (by Cox’s Ridge), a half sister to Japanese stakes winner Laurel Ange (by Paradise Creek; dam of 2016 Japan Dirt Derby, JPN-L, winner Kyoei Gere, by Deep Sky). The siblings are out of Smartaire’s Alydar daughter Smart Darlin, a winning half sister to 1979 American champion 2-year-old filly Smart Angle (by Quadrangle), multiple Grade 2 winner and good sire Smarten (by Cyane), Grade 2 winner Quadratic (by Quadrangle), and multiple stakes winner Smart Heiress (by Vaguely Noble).
Books and media
Footage of Accelerate’s victory in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjI13hK39wY.
Fun facts
Last updated: August 29, 2023
Race record
23 starts, 10 wins, 5 seconds, 6 third, US$6.692,480
2016:
- Won Los Alamitos Derby (USA-G2, 9FD, Los Alamitos)
- Won Shared Belief Stakes (USA-L, 8FD, Del Mar)
- 3rd Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (USA-G1, 8FD, Santa Anita)
2017:
- Won TVG San Diego Handicap (USA-G2, Del Mar)
- 2nd San Antonio Stakes (December) (USA-G2, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd San Pasqual Stakes (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- 3rd TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (USA-G1, 10FD, Del Mar)
- 3rd San Antonio Stakes (February) (USA-G2, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- 3rd Precisionist Stakes (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
2018:
- Won Santa Anita Handicap (USA-G1, 10FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Gold Cup at Santa Anita Stakes (USA-G1, 10FT, Santa Anita)
- Won TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (USA-G1,10FD, Del Mar)
- Won Awesome Again Srakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Santa Anita)
- Won Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won San Pasqual Stakes (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Santa Anita)
- 2nd Oaklawn Handicap (USA-G2, 9FD, Oaklawn Park)
2019:
- 3rd Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (USA-G1, 9FD, Gulfstream Park)
Honors
Eclipse Award, American champion older dirt male (2019)
Assessments
Rated at 115 pounds on the 2017 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings in both the Mile and Intermediate categories, 19 pounds below overall highweight Arrogate.
Rated at 128 pounds on the 2018 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 2 pounds below co-highweights Cracksman and Winx but tops among dirt horses worldwide.
As an individual
A ruggedly made chestnut horse, Accelerate tended to be anxious and overeager when racing as a young horse but became more patient with maturity. He could sometimes be difficult at the gate.
As a stallion
Accelerate entered stud in Kentucky in 2019 at Lane’s End Farm. His first winner was Musicmansandy, who broke her maiden at first asking at Delaware Park on June 22, 2022. He got his first stakes winner on November 5, 2022, when his son Hal won the Display Stakes (CAN-L) at Woodbine.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Accelerate was bred by Mike Abraham. A $380,000 purchase from the 2014 Keeneland September sale, he raced for Hronis Racing (Kosta and Pete Hronis). He was trained by John Sadler. He entered stud in Kentucky in 2019 at Lane's End Farm.
Pedigree notes
Accelerate is inbred 3x5 to two-time American champion sire Mr. Prospector, 5x5x5 to the great international sire Northern Dancer (the 1964 American champion 3-year-old male and Canadian Horse of the Year), and 5x5 to 1979 Kentucky Broodmare of the Year Smartaire. He is a half brother to Grade 1-placed listed stakes winner Daddy D T (by Scat Daddy) and to Grade 3-placed listed stakes winner Amarisg (by Scat Daddy).
Accelerate is out of stakes-placed Issues, whose dam, multiple listed stakes-placed Darlin Echo, is an Eastern Echo half sister to 1998 Jockey Club Gold Cup (USA-G1) winner Wagon Limit (by Conquistador Cielo). Darlin Echo is also a half sister to Taine (by Sir Ivor), dam of Grade 2 winner Puzzlement (by Pine Bluff) and Group 3-placed Japanese listed stakes winner Central Coast (by War Chant).
Darlin Echo, in turn, is out of stakes-placed Darlin Lindy (by Cox’s Ridge), a half sister to Japanese stakes winner Laurel Ange (by Paradise Creek; dam of 2016 Japan Dirt Derby, JPN-L, winner Kyoei Gere, by Deep Sky). The siblings are out of Smartaire’s Alydar daughter Smart Darlin, a winning half sister to 1979 American champion 2-year-old filly Smart Angle (by Quadrangle), multiple Grade 2 winner and good sire Smarten (by Cyane), Grade 2 winner Quadratic (by Quadrangle), and multiple stakes winner Smart Heiress (by Vaguely Noble).
Books and media
Footage of Accelerate’s victory in the 2018 Breeders’ Cup Classic can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjI13hK39wY.
Fun facts
- In 2018, Accelerate became only the third horse to sweep California’s three biggest races for older males—the Santa Anita Handicap, the Gold Cup at Santa Anita (formerly the Hollywood Gold Cup before the closure of Hollywood Park), and the Pacific Classic Stakes—following Lava Man in 2006 and Game On Dude in 2013. In the Pacific Classic, Accelerate won by 12½ lengths, setting a record for victory margin that endured until Flightline’s 19¼ length tour de force in 2022.
Last updated: August 29, 2023