Movin' On Up notches win in Caress for 90-year-old owner Ramsey

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Movin’ On Up, benefitting from a perfect pace setup created in large part by her stablemate In Our Time, rallied from last to a 1 1/4-length victory over Zeitlos in Saturday’s $200,000 Caress Stakes at Saratoga.

Movin’ On Up, who snapped a nine-race winless streak with her victory in the Grade 2 Caress, is owned by 90-year-old Ken Ramsey. The longtime owner-breeder was attending the races at Saratoga for the first time on Saturday since becoming the Guinness World Records' oldest kidney transplant (male) recipient after undergoing the surgery at age 88 in June 2024.

With Tyler Gaffalione aboard for the first time, Movin’ On Up dropped back to last in the run down the backstretch and around the turn in the 5 1/2-furlong Caress and was nearly 10 lengths off the very lively pace, disputed from the outset by the 7-5 favorite In Our Time and 2-1 second choice Sunna. Movin’ On Up angled six wide commencing her bid into the stretch, finished full of run down the center of the course, and overtaking the laboring leaders a sixteenth from the wire to win going away.

Zeitlos, who rallied from last to finish second behind Future Is Now in the 2025 Caress, also rated well off the early leaders, rallied willingly along the rail, but proved no match for the winner at the end. It was another length farther back to the tiring In Our Time.

Movin’ On Up, whose previous victory came in the Sand Springs Stakes at Gulfstream Park nearly 16 months ago, completed the distance over firm footing in 1:01.04 and paid $12.62.

“We couldn’t let the other filly (Sunna) get away and we wanted to be assertive with In Our Time because we tried taking a hold with her last time and she didn’t fire,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said on the way the race unfolded. “It was a fine line and obviously we were happy to see those fractions for the one filly, but obviously not for In Our Time.”

Joseph said he was happy not only to see Movin’ On Up finally get back to the winner’s circle, but to also get a graded stakes win on her resume’.

“She comes from a good family and is a very good filly in her own right,” Joseph said. “She ran very well last time in the most productive filly and mare turf race of the year. It produced two Grade 1 winners. And getting a graded stakes win on her resume’ is very big. Especially here at Saratoga for Mr. Ramsey, who is still going strong after the kidney transplant."

Trainer Steve Asmussen said he was proud but obviously a bit frustrated after watching Zeitlos finish a solid second in the Caress for the second year in a row.

“She’s a nice filly, she always runs hard, but sure would love to win,” Asmussen said.

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