Accelerate

Late-blooming Accelerate joined the group of contenders in an unsettled 3-year-old male division in the fall of 2016 with his win in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Derby Stakes.

The colt, owned by Hronis Racing LLC and trained by John Sadler, did not race as a 2-year-old and made his first start in mid-April. He posted his first win in his third start in July and has since won two stakes races, the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar followed by the Los Alamitos Derby. He followed with a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

In July 2017, he entered the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on a five-race winless stretch in which he had finished second or third in each defeat. But in the San Diego, he engineered one of the more stunning upsets in Southern California racing history as he rolled to a doninant victory with overwhelming favorite Arrogate finishing fourth.

Accelerate then finished third behind Collected and Arrogate in the TVG Pacific Classic, a disappointing ninth in the Las Vegas Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, and second behind Giant Expectations in the San Antonio Stakes to close out his 4-year-old season. He was back at his best in his first start at 5, however, rolling to a 1 3/4-length win in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes on Feb. 3, 2018 at Santa Anita Park. He followed with a powerhouse 5 1/2-length romp in the historic Santa Anita Handicap to stamp himself one of the best older horses in training. He followed with a game runner-up finish to City of Light in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap. In the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita, Accelerate turned the tables on City of Light when he shook free to a dominant victory, his second in a Grade 1 race. In his next start, Accelerate registered his third Grade 1 win when he overwhelmed the opposition in a dominant romp in the TVG Pacific Classic Stakes on Aug. 18 at Del Mar.

Making his final prep for the 2018 Breeders' Cup Classic in the Awesome Again Stakes on Sept. 29 at Santa Anita Park, Accelerate had every excuse available to him after acting up in the starting gate, getting away to a slow start, and racing wide throughout the 1 1/8-mile race. But, Accelerate would not be denied. He rallied into contention with a sweeping bid on the final turn and gradually put away Isotherm and Grade 1-winning runner-up West Coast for a hard-earned victory ... his fourth Grade 1 win of the year.

Accelerate went into the Breeders' Cup Classic as the favorite and he lived up to that billing, seizing command in the stretch at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 and the holding off late bids from runner-up Gunnevera and third-place finisher Thunder Snow to prevail. With five Grade 1 wins in 2018, Accelerate won the Eclipse Award as champion older male and was a finalist for Horse of the Year, which was won by Triple Crown winner Justify.

In the final start of his career Accelerate rallied to challenge City of Light at the top of the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes stretch, but he flattened out a bit on the sloppy track and settled for third.

Accelerate sold for $380,000 as a yearling at the Keeneland sale. He is by the young sire Lookin At Lucky, a two-time champion and winner of the 2010 Preakness Stakes.