With his first Australian bred yearlings set to make their sales ring debut in 2017, Newgate Farm’s exciting young shuttle sire The Factor (USA) was making news in the US on the weekend when his unbeaten colt Fact Finding earned TDN Rising Star status with a dazzling victory in the $75,000 Smooth Air Stakes at Gulfstream.
Trained by Todd Pletcher for a syndicate of Coolmore partners and Stonestreet Stables, Fact Finding made it three wins in as many starts when he raced away from Uncle Mo colt Basha to win the one mile contest by seven lengths.
“He showed us today that he should be able to handle the stretch-out from a mile,” said Pletcher.
“The time stacked up favorable for the day. It was a quality effort from him. He’s kind of handled everything we’ve asked of him to do so far. The owners have been very patient letting him find his way along.
“He’s very laid back in the morning. We really weren’t sure what we had until we ran him. He’s one of those horses that kind of saves himself in the morning.”
Fact Finding was a $100,000 Keeneland September Yearling and then fetched 350,000 guineas at the Tattersalls Breeze Up Sale in the UK earlier this year.
The second stakes-winner for The Factor, joining his Group I winning filly Noted and Quoted, Fact Finding is the best of three winners from stakes-winning Deputy Commander mare Sweet Belle.
The Factor has some lovely yearlings on offer at upcoming sales with 15 at Magic Millions and eight at Inglis Classic.