Factor This holds off Synchrony in Fair Grounds Stakes

NEW ORLEANS – Factor This was burned in a speed duel with Sailing Solo last month in the Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes. Mid-morning Saturday, Sailing Solo was announced as a scratch from the Grade 3, $150,000 Fair Grounds Stakes.

Absent his main pace rival and cleaving hard to the best part of the course along the inside fence, Factor This went wire to wire in the Fair Grounds, holding on by one length over heavily favored Synchrony.

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Synchrony might have caught Factor This had his rider waited a little longer to vacate the shining golden rail. Instead, he went to the No. 3 path past the quarter pole to come outside a flagging Botswana for his run, and that might have made all the difference.

Take nothing away from Factor This, who really dug in to see out this nine-furlong trip under Shaun Bridgmohan, who made all the right moves.

“He’s such a cool horse to ride,” Bridgmohan said.

Factor This, who paid a generous $18.80, was timed in 1:47.29 for the 1 1/8 miles on firm, fast-playing turf. The 5-year-old gelding is by The Factor out of Capricious Miss, by Singpiel.

Botswana, a 53-1 shot, held on for third in a race marred by the fatal breakdown around the five-furlong pole of Classic Covey. Jockey Junior Alvarado escaped injury.

Brad Cox, who trains Factor This for Gaining Ground Racing, was pleased when he saw a 48.25 half-mile split posted compared to the 46-and-change half Factor This set last month.

“I was much more confident today as opposed to last time,” Cox said. “Those scratches were important. Shaun did a great job.”