Accelerate Begins Preparations for Career Swan Song

They've already had one party in his honor, complete with gifts and highlights and the reminiscing that comes when the end of a grand experience nears.

There is still a proper send-off to be had, though, for multiple grade 1 winner Accelerate , and trainer John Sadler knows the best way to honor one of the finest he's ever conditioned is to make sure he has him primed for one more first-rate performance.

In the first of what will be his final series of workouts before concluding his career in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park Jan. 26, Hronis Racing's Accelerate covered four furlongs in :49 in a solo move Dec. 8 under exercise rider Juan Leyva at Santa Anita Park.

Saturday's breeze was the first for Accelerate since his triumph in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs, a victory that gave Sadler his long-awaited first win in a Breeders' Cup race and capped a championship-worthy campaign for the 5-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky . Regardless of how Horse of the Year balloting goes, Accelerate is a virtual slam dunk to earn divisional honors for champion older dirt male and become the second Eclipse Award winner Sadler has trained thanks to a 2018 season that saw the chestnut capture five grade 1 races—including four at the 10-furlong distance.

"This was just a maintenance work, first in a series to train up to the Pegasus, but he looked really nice," Sadler said. "The main thing is Juan, who rides him, said his energy was great, (and he's) really full of himself.

"I think we're really focusing on enjoying him while he's here. We want to send him off the right way, so we're going to be laser-focused on this race because it would be so great to win one more big one with him and go out that way. But we had a big party on Monday, a Breeders' Cup/Christmas party and took all the crew off site and had a great party. We had a film of all his races this year, so we're right in the middle of all that, just enjoying it."

Accelerate downright spoiled his connections as he progressed into the dominant horse in the handicap ranks. His only defeat in seven starts this season came when he was narrowly beaten by eventual Dirt Mile (G1) winner City of Light  in the Oaklawn Handicap (G2), and he swept all the major California tests, topped by his 12 1/2-length demolition of rivals in the $1 Million TVG Pacific Classic Stakes (G1).

Among those expected to try and spoil a walk-off victory by Accelerate in the Pegasus are grade 1 winner Audible and Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Gunnevera. Audible breezed four furlongs Saturday in preparation for his return to graded-stakes competition in the $100,000 Harlan's Holiday Stakes (G3) Dec. 15 at Gulfstream, and Gunnevera returned to the work tab for the first time since the Breeders' Cup with an easy half-mile in :50 4/5 at Gulfstream Park West.

Working in company with grade 1 turf winner Hi Happy, Audible went the half-mile in :48.68 at trainer Todd Pletcher's winter base of Palm Beach Downs. It was the third work for the 3-year-old Into Mischief  colt since launching his comeback with a victory in the Nov. 3 Cherokee Run Stakes at Churchill Downs.

"I think Audible has been training exceptionally well. His breeze this morning was a good, solid half with a strong gallop-out, which is what we were looking for," Pletcher said. "We really like the way he's progressed since the Cherokee Run. You can see him physically developing from 3 to 4, and he's giving us all the right signs at the moment."

Audible is unbeaten in two starts over Gulfstream's main track, having won the Holy Bull Stakes (G2) in February prior to his score in the Xpressbet Florida Derby (G1).

The Cherokee Run was the first race for Audible since his third-place finish behind eventual Triple Crown winner Justify  in the May 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). He was given time off at WinStar Farm in Kentucky and returned to Pletcher's care in September. He will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano in the Harlan's Holiday.

Gunnevera is slated to make his 5-year-old debut in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus, a race he finished third in this season for trainer Antonio Sano. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. was aboard the son of Dialed In  for the work and will have the call for the Pegasus.

"He worked really good, he did," Ortiz said. "They told me he doesn't do too much in the morning, but he did good. I don't know how fast he went, but I thought he went great. He was comfortable and he did everything right; very, very good."