Factor This keeps rolling with victory in Dinner Party Stakes

The traveling road show of Factor This was good for another top performance on Saturday at Pimlico, where he won his fifth stakes of the year at his fourth different track with a front-running victory in the Grade 2, $250,000 Dinner Party Stakes for 3-year-old and up grass runners.

A narrow defeat last time out in the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs prevented the Dinner Party from being the sixth straight stakes victory for Factor This. Earlier this year, he won the Grade 3 Fair Grounds and Grade 2 Muniz Memorial in New Orleans, the Grade 2 Wise Dan at Churchill Downs, and the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup, at distances ranging from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/4 miles, on courses rated firm or soft.

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The Kentucky Downs race, run on soft ground, was the most germane in relation to the Dinner Party, which was contested over a deep, tiring course rated yielding that Factor This handled best of the seven runners.

Factor This, starting from the outside stall, took the early lead, then gently squeezed out Somelikeithotbrown heading into the first turn of the 1 1/16-mile grass race when Somelikeithotbrown was not sent aggressively from his inside draw.

Factor This led down the backstretch from Irish Strait, and once getting the best of that rival took on a fresh challenge from Somelikeithotbrown, who attacked with a quarter to go at Pimlico.

But Factor This never relinquished the lead, and in fact was pulling away in the late going from Somelikeithotbrown, who never changed leads through the lane. Factor This also showed the effects of the testing ground, as he swapped over to his left lead at midstretch. But he went on to win by 2 3/4 lengths, and Somelikeithotbrown was 6 1/2 lengths in front of third-place Hembree.

Both Somelikeithotbrown and Hembree are trained by Mike Maker.

Doctor Mounty was fourth, then came, in order, True Valour, O Dionysus, and Irish Strait.

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Reflecting the boggy nature of a course rated yielding, Factor This completed 1 1/16 miles on turf in 1:46.17 following fractions of 24.20 seconds for the quarter, 48.74 for the half, 1:13.61 for six furlongs, and 1:39.39 for one mile.

Factor This ($3.60), the favorite, gave the team of jockey Florent Geroux and trainer Brad Cox a second stakes win on the card. They clicked with Juliet Foxtrot in the Grade 3 Gallorette for female turf runners.

“He’s a very nice horse,” Geroux told Pimlico publicity. “It was a big class relief for the horse. He just ran a great race in the Grade 1 on Derby Day. It was a great spot for him and a nice confidence builder for the horse.”

Factor This, 5, is a son of The Factor who has now won 12 times in 32 starts. He is owned by Gaining Ground Racing. Factor This added another $150,000 to his bank account on Saturday to bring his career winnings to more than $1.24 million, with $800,000 of that coming this year.