Dual Group I winner Declaration of War (USA) will not be the only son of boom sire War Front to stand in Australia this spring, with Newgate Farm entering the fray with a new import from the US in The Factor (USA).

Having successfully launched Foxwedge in 2012 and added further high class Australian prospects Sizzling and Eurozone to the roster this year, Newgate are now going to roll the dice with a shuttle horse.

"At Newgate we are not trying to re-invent the wheel,” explains Henry Field.

"What has worked in Australia has been fast, good-looking horses by pre-potent stallions, so we set about finding the fastest and best looking horse that we could, and that horse is a son of the globe’s emerging breed-shaper, War Front, named The Factor.”.

The Factor

A dual Group I winner at three over seven furlongs in the Santa Anita Malibu Stakes and Del Mar Pat O’Brien Stakes, The Factor was also a brilliant winner at Santa Anita at two from just two starts as a juvenile and retired with the overall record of six wins and two seconds from 13 starts.

"As a multiple Group 1 winner and record-breaking two-year-old, The Factor was an oustanding racehorse, but what attracted us most to him was how perfectly he suits Australian breeding,” said Field.

"He was brilliantly fast, so fast that his hall-of-fame trainer, Bob Baffert, described him a ‘freak’ and the fastest horse that he has ever trained. 

"On the racecourse, The Factor did nothing to change this opinion. He broke his maiden in sensational style, out of the barriers like a rocket and just running clean away from his rivals for an easy eight-length triumph. 

"He went on to be a multiple Grade 1 winner, taking the Malibu Stakes in another clock-smashing performance, and marked himself as the leading 3YO sprinter in America with a top-class win over the older sprinters in the O’Brien Stakes. 

"His speed is not just evidenced by his trophies, but also by some of the fastest times in history, his six-furlong clocking of 1:06 4/5 marking him as the fastest 1200m horse ever to stand in Australia.”

War Front

A son of legendary sire Danzig, War Front has established himself as arguably the hottest sire in the world today with a fast growing tally of 28 stakes-winners – five of them Group I winners - with his oldest progeny just six year-olds.

His progeny have been in keen demand at sales in the Northern Hemisphere in the past 12 months where they have regularly sold for million dollar sums and his service fee at Claiborne Farm in the US has risen to $150,000.

"The Factor gives Australian breeders the chance to tap into this line through the very fastest example of not just a War Front, but of any horse,” said Field.

The Factor was purchased at the two-year-old breeze-up sales in America by John Moynihan, the leading US bloodstock agent, who has been active in Australia at the sales this year.

Moynihan describes The Factor as ‘a rocket-ship’.

"He’s the fastest horse we’ve ever had,” Moynihan said.

"Physically he’s a 15 out of 10, he really does have the physical presence to match just how fast he was. 

"Having looked at the champion stallions and racehorses in Australia, his physical appearance and record-breaking speed are tailor-made for the Australian market.”

The Factor stands at Lane’s End in Kentucky at a fee of $US 15,000 and went to stud last year so has foals on the ground this year.

"At Newgate we stand horses we believe in, out formula is simply to stick to what works - fast, good-looking horses by pre-potent stallions,” Field added.

"They don’t get any faster than The Factor, who we will be supporting with many of our Group I mares.”

The Factor will stand at Newgate a fee of $22,000.