Movin' On Up rallies to win Caress Stakes for Ken Ramsey
Movin' On Up came from last of five to win the Caress Stakes at Saratoga, giving Ken Ramsey a graded turf payoff and a return to the Spa winner's circle.
Movin' On Up turned a five-horse Caress Stakes into a late-running sprint at Saratoga Race Course, rallying from last of five early to beat Zeitlos by 1 1/4 lengths in the 5 1/2-furlong Mellon turf test for fillies and mares on July 11.
The five-year-old daughter of Accelerate finished the job in 1:01.04 over firm turf, well off the course record of :59.80 but fast enough to show the cutback in distance worked. NYRA called it a successful move down in trip, and the victory snapped a nine-race winless streak while giving Movin' On Up her first graded stakes win.
The race also delivered Ken Ramsey back to the Saratoga winner's circle with a horse he got for value. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. claimed Movin' On Up for $35,000, and the mare rewarded that decision with a graded breakthrough against older turf mares. For Ramsey, it was his first trip back to Saratoga since his 2024 kidney transplant, a return that gave the win a sharper personal edge without changing the race's competitive weight.
Ramsey's own history makes the moment larger than a single summer sprint. Guinness World Records verified him as the oldest male kidney transplant recipient at 88 years and 230 days, and Tom Pope, a family friend, was the donor. That backdrop sat behind a result that was still built on racing fundamentals: a modest claim, a smart placement, and a mare that closed from the back of the pack when the pace and distance fit her best.
Movin' On Up now has six wins from 20 starts and $734,970 in earnings, a record that turns the Caress from a nice Spa score into a possible marker for the rest of her late-summer campaign. The win also fits the broader Ramsey family story at Saratoga, where Ken and the late Sarah Ramsey were long known as major players, including four Eclipse Awards as outstanding owners and nine consecutive spring-leading-owner titles at Churchill Downs. Sarah Ramsey died in 2022, and Movin' On Up's finish added a new chapter to a name that has already been part of modern racing history.
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