Wednesday, August 12, 2015
The Factor surged to the head of the Leading Freshman Sires list by yearling average after a blockbuster two nights of selling at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Yearlings from the first crop of the standout son of War Front couldn’t have been in higher demand. Two of the top 12 horses through the ring were by THE FACTOR, led by a striking gray son of Street Scene (Ire) who sold to Willis Horton for $750,000. The colt is a half brother to SW Traffic Guard.
“For me, he was probably the most athletic colt that I’ve seen,” Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who signed the ticket for Horton, told the Thoroughbred Daily News. “I liked the way he walked, I liked his movement…everything. I just though he was an athlete.”
Lukas added that he’s been impressed by what he’s seen so far from THE FACTOR.
“I think he’s going to be very good [as a stallion],” Lukas noted. “They’re very athletic horses and very attractive horses. War Front is making a name for himself and he could be a sire of sires. THE FACTOR looks like he’ll step up to the bat pretty good. I liked three or four of THE FACTORs in the sale. This one was my first choice, so we waited for him.”
Just six hips before that one when through the ring as Hip 202, another standout colt by THE FACTOR, Hip 196, was hammered down to Crupi’s New Castle Farm for $600,000. The bay is a half to SW & G1SP Harlan’s Ruby.
THE FACTOR had four other yearlings at Saratoga, and all sold well. Blandford Bloodstock paid $375,000 for a colt out of Seeking Luck; Stephen Carr went to $250,000 for a filly out of Raisa; Midwest Thoroughbreds bought a colt out of Pieria for $185,000; and Tommy Stock bought a filly from Sayedah (Ire) for $160,000.
THE FACTOR’s six yearlings at Saratoga averaged $386,667 and had a median of $312,500.
Thus far in 2015, all 11 of THE FACTOR’s yearlings through the ring have sold. The have averaged $276,363.
Those are astounding numbers, considering that THE FACTOR stood for just $15,000 in his first season at stud.
THE FACTOR has a single yearling cataloged at this weekend’s Fasig-Tipton Preferred NY-Bred Sale, Hip 460, an Empire-bred filly from the immediate family of Yonaguska, et al.