Fact To File: Profile, Record, Age & Best Races

This season has not quite gone to plan as a whole for Fact To File but he remains a formidable contender for the top races at the Cheltenham Festival.

Stablemate Galopin Des Champs has had his measure in two starts at Leopardstown this season and perhaps the Ryanair Chase will provide the perfect opportunity to return to winning ways.

Name: Fact To File

Age: 8

Weight: 11st 12lb

Trainer: Willie Mullins

Winnings: £355,434

Cheltenham Festival wins: 1

Fact To File race stats

Runs	1st	2nd	3rd
10	5	4	1

Fact To File Age

Fact To File is an eight-year-old gelding, bred by Michel Pehu. He is by the sire Poliglote and his dam is Mitemps.

Fact To File Record

Fact To File won an Irish point-to-point for Donnchadh Doyle at Belharbour in February 2022 and was privately purchased off the back of that six-length success. Asian Master was back in second that day and is now his stablemate at the Willie Mullins yard.

Making his first start under rules in a Leopardstown bumper over 2m4f, he showed a good turn of foot to take the lead inside the final half-a-furlong and was pulling further clear at the line, eventually scoring by two lengths.

It’s no surprise that connections decided to go up in class next time and he contested the Grade 2 Shabra Charity Oliver Brady Memorial Future Stars (C & G) I.N.H. Flat Race at the Dublin Racing Festival on his next start.

He eventually finished second behind A Dream To Share, which was a fair effort with the winner going on to take the Champion Bumper at Cheltenham, and Fact To File again filled the runner-up spot but managed to get a little closer.

Connections made the bold decision to skip hurdles and go straight over fences and his second chase start came in a beginners’ chase over an extended 2m5f at Leopardstown. Fact To File impressed with his high cruising speed and accurate jumping and went on to score by 17 lengths, with two smart performers trailing in behind him.

A clash with stablemate Gaelic Warrior was next up for Willie Mullins’ gelding and Mark Walsh’s mount drew easily clear of that rival, who unseated Paul Townend at the last fence. It was then immediately obvious that Fact To File is a serious horse.

The Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival soon followed and he could hardly have been more impressive, getting the better of Monty’s Star by three-and-three-quarter lengths. Fact To File looked like he joined the race with three fences left and finished just as powerfully as he jumped and travelled throughout.

Starting the current campaign off in the John Durkin Memorial Punchestown Chase over 2m3½f, he managed to hold off the sustained challenge of the runner-up Spillane’s Tower and Galopin Des Champs could only manage third.

Two defeats at the hands of fully firing Galopin Des Champs in both the Savills Chase and Irish Gold Cup then followed but he was very below-par last time out and could only finish third.

Fact To File Next Race

There are two potential next targets for Fact To File; the Ryanair Chase, for which he is the ante-post favourite, and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The former is on Day 3 of the Cheltenham Festival (Thursday 13th March) and the latter is on Day 4 (Friday 14th March).

Fact To File Owner and Cost

JP McManus owns Fact To File and he is one of the sport’s biggest owners and currently owns some big names, including Jonbon and Majborough, as well as Gold Cup winner Synchronised and Champion Hurdle winners Istabraq, Binocular and Buveur D’Air.

Privately purchased by McManus, he was initially purchased by Donnchadh Doyle at an Arqana sale for €40,000.

Fact To File Trainer

The Cheltenham Festival’s winning-most trainer, Willie Mullins is the trainer of Fact To File. He has an abundance of top class horses and he’s currently levels above any other National Hunt trainer.

Four Gold Cup winners are amongst his 103 Cheltenham Festival winners and he’s currently champion trainer in both Britain and Ireland. He’s the first Irish trainer to do so since the great Vincent O’Brien achieved the feat 70 years ago.

Fact to File Official Rating

Fact To File has dropped to an official mark of 166 as a consequence of his four-and-three-quarter-length defeat at the hands of Galopin Des Champs in the Irish Gold Cup. He had previously achieved a career-high rating of 169 when winning at Punchestown earlier on in the season.

Fact To File Prize Money

The eight-year-old has earned £355,434 across his career to date and the £102,400 he gained for taking the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham is his most valuable success thus far.

Fact To File News

After back-to-back defeats at the hands of stablemate Galopin Des Champs, it’s perhaps back to the drawing board with him. Trainer Willie Mullins retains plenty of faith in him however and Cheltenham remains the plan.

He said: “He’s a very good jumper and maybe we could make more use of his jumping, but they’re all things that have to be worked out and we'll look at other opportunities for him. The Ryanair hasn’t been touched on since the race.”

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