A 5-year-old mare with six previous stakes placings to her credit, Movin’ On Up finally broke into the charmed circle of black-type winners last Saturday—in a graded stakes, no less. Waiting at the rear of a five-horse field in the 5½-furlong Caress Stakes (USA-G2) through the first quarter, Movin’ On Up found her best stride after straightening away in the stretch and rolled past previous Grade 2 winners Zeitlos and In Our Time to claim the lioness’s share of the US$250,000 purse for owner Kenneth Ramsey and trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. Claimed out of her third start for US$35,000 in 2023, Movin’ On Up has now won six of her 20 lifetime starts and placed on another seven occasions for lifetime earnings of US$734,970.
Bred by the estate of Harvey A. Clarke, Movin’ On Up was a logical candidate for taking some time to reach peak form. She is a daughter of 2018 American champion older male Accelerate, whose five Grade 1 wins that season—including a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1)—would have made him a shoo-in for American Horse of the Year honors had it not been for Justify’s heroics in the American Triple Crown. Then a 5-year-old, Accelerate had been a Grade 2 winner at 3 and 4 but showed greatly improved form in his last full season on the track.
Unfortunately, Accelerate’s late maturity, his clear preference for 10 furlongs as his best distance, and an unfashionable pedigree (he is the top earner sired by two-time Eclipse Award winner Lookin At Lucky, a two-time champion sire in Chile but more a hard-knocking breed-to-race sire in North America) combined to doom his stallion career before it ever had a chance to get going, During his five seasons at Lanes’ End Farm, Accelerate sired 310 named foals of racing age. Of those, 155 have won and six have earned stakes wins, including 2024 Summertime Oaks (USA-G2) winner Sugar Fish. Movin’ On Up is now his top earner.
Movin’ On Up is the first foal and the only winner of three produced from the Cairo Prince mare Stifle Yourself. A winner of one of her two start, Stifle Yourself is a half sister to 2020 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup Stakes (USA-G1) winner Harvey’s Lil Goil (by American Pharoah) and to 2025 Lexington Stakes (USA-G3) winner Gosger, runner-up in that year’s Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) and NYRA.Bets Haskell Stakes. Stifle Yourself has an unraced 2-year-old colt by Authentic, Real Restraint, and was most recently bred to City of Light.
Stifle Yourself, in turn, is out of the unraced Tapit mare Gloria S., a half sister to 2012 American champion 3-year-old male I’ll Have Another (by Flower Alley) and to multiple Grade 3 winner Golden Award (by Medaglia d’Oro). Their dam, Arch’s Pal Edith (by Arch) won her only race and is out of stakes-placed Force Five Gal (by Pleasant Tap).
Given her connections, the biggest surprise regarding Movin’ On Up is not her step up to Grade 2 winner but the fact that she did so as a sprinter. Still, a Grade 2 win is a Grade 2 win, and the fact that she showed enough foot to win over good competition at 5½ furlongs certainly has not hurt her value as a broodmare prospect. She has certainly made a nice move up from the claiming ranks, and any improvement on her current resume will only make a solid family that much more attractive even without a fashionable broodmare sire for any future foal. As with looks, sometimes pedigree is as pedigree does.
Bred by the estate of Harvey A. Clarke, Movin’ On Up was a logical candidate for taking some time to reach peak form. She is a daughter of 2018 American champion older male Accelerate, whose five Grade 1 wins that season—including a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (USA-G1)—would have made him a shoo-in for American Horse of the Year honors had it not been for Justify’s heroics in the American Triple Crown. Then a 5-year-old, Accelerate had been a Grade 2 winner at 3 and 4 but showed greatly improved form in his last full season on the track.
Unfortunately, Accelerate’s late maturity, his clear preference for 10 furlongs as his best distance, and an unfashionable pedigree (he is the top earner sired by two-time Eclipse Award winner Lookin At Lucky, a two-time champion sire in Chile but more a hard-knocking breed-to-race sire in North America) combined to doom his stallion career before it ever had a chance to get going, During his five seasons at Lanes’ End Farm, Accelerate sired 310 named foals of racing age. Of those, 155 have won and six have earned stakes wins, including 2024 Summertime Oaks (USA-G2) winner Sugar Fish. Movin’ On Up is now his top earner.
Movin’ On Up is the first foal and the only winner of three produced from the Cairo Prince mare Stifle Yourself. A winner of one of her two start, Stifle Yourself is a half sister to 2020 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup Stakes (USA-G1) winner Harvey’s Lil Goil (by American Pharoah) and to 2025 Lexington Stakes (USA-G3) winner Gosger, runner-up in that year’s Preakness Stakes (USA-G1) and NYRA.Bets Haskell Stakes. Stifle Yourself has an unraced 2-year-old colt by Authentic, Real Restraint, and was most recently bred to City of Light.
Stifle Yourself, in turn, is out of the unraced Tapit mare Gloria S., a half sister to 2012 American champion 3-year-old male I’ll Have Another (by Flower Alley) and to multiple Grade 3 winner Golden Award (by Medaglia d’Oro). Their dam, Arch’s Pal Edith (by Arch) won her only race and is out of stakes-placed Force Five Gal (by Pleasant Tap).
Given her connections, the biggest surprise regarding Movin’ On Up is not her step up to Grade 2 winner but the fact that she did so as a sprinter. Still, a Grade 2 win is a Grade 2 win, and the fact that she showed enough foot to win over good competition at 5½ furlongs certainly has not hurt her value as a broodmare prospect. She has certainly made a nice move up from the claiming ranks, and any improvement on her current resume will only make a solid family that much more attractive even without a fashionable broodmare sire for any future foal. As with looks, sometimes pedigree is as pedigree does.
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