A $900,000 Keeneland September yearling, two-year-old PRIME FACTOR (Quality Road – Haylie Brae by Bernardini) broke his maiden by nearly nine lengths upon debut, December 12 at Gulfstream Park. Irad Ortiz, Jr. rode the colt owned by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm, who hit many pundits Triple Crown lists before he had galloped back to the winners’ circle.
Late developing three-year-old ARHAM (Union Rags – Sanaaya by Smart Strike) crushed a maiden field by seven lengths at first-asking over the Gulfstream Park main track on December 17. The Shadwell Farm homebred had been training at J.J. Pletcher’s farm prior to being shipped to Hallandale Beach and had shown a distinct amount of professionalism, which carried over into his debut under jockey Luis Saez. He figures to be even better going longer.