Winner of the Dubai Turf (G1T) this spring, Facteur Cheval will switch to dirt this fall for a run in the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar Nov. 2, according to Team Valor International's Barry Irwin.
"He's a big strong horse. He looks like an American dirt horse," Irwin said. "He's hardly ever run a bad race. This horse is right there every single time. He's the most consistent horse around."
Facteur Cheval joins a growing list of potential international starters in the 1 1/4-mile dirt race, joining the likes of Epsom Derby (G1) hero City of Troy and Japan's globetrotting 3-year-old Forever Young, among others.
Bred in Ireland by McCracken Farms, Facteur Cheval holds a record of 6-4-4 from 16 starts for earnings of $3,898,825. In addition to his Dubai Turf triumph, the Ribchester gelding also won the 2022 Prix Perth (G3) at Saint-Cloud in France.
Considered at first by Irwin and trainer Jerome Reynier as a seven-furlong and one-mile horse, the gelding had shown more stamina throughout his training as he progressed. This prompted Team Valor and co-owner Gary Barber to enter him in the 1 1/8-mile Dubai Turf, which he won by a short head.
However, it was not his victory that put him on the radar for the Classic, but rather a three-furlong blowout over the Meydan dirt in the lead-up.
"He went three-eighths really fast and looked good doing it," Irwin said. "(Reynier) halfheartedly said, "This horse should be running in the (Dubai) World Cup, not the Dubai Turf."
Although he has proven to be a competitive grass horse, Irwin said trying the gelding on dirt will help open the door for his participation in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) and the $12 million Dubai World Cup (G1) next year.
Switching surfaces on the biggest stage is nothing new for Team Valor. Famously, their colt Animal Kingdom won the 2011 Kentucky Derby (G1) in his first dirt start.
Irwin's predecessor to Team Valor, Clover Racing Stables, owned Prized, who won the 1989 Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) in his first grass start. That same year, Clover-owned Martial Law won the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) at 50-1 after coming from England and having only one start on the dirt surface in a sprint.
"We do it when we think we have an idea that might work, we don't do it just to be taking a shot," Irwin said. "You buy a horse because you like it. As you learn more about it, you see the possibilities."
After his victory in Dubai, Facteur Cheval finished sixth with a questionable trip in the one-mile Queen Anne Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot and third most recently in the July 31 Sussex Stakes (G1) at Goodwood, both over firm ground.
"Both my trainer and I fully agreed that a mile on turf that's firm, he can't do it. He doesn't have a turn of foot to kick on like these other horses," Irwin said. "He keeps plugging and grinding. Those kind of horses can do well on the dirt as opposed to the turf."
One more mile turf start could be in the cards for Facteur Cheval before the Classic, should the ground come up soft, in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (G1) in the first week of September.
Should the turf at Longchamp be firm, Irwin said they would be more than pleased to enter Facteur Cheval in the Classic off a 94-day layoff, given how well he ran after riding the bench for 161 days before his Dubai Turf win.
