Sierra Leone recaptures winning form in Breeders' Cup Classic
Del Mar, Calif.
Faith and patience paid off in spades as 3-year-old Sierra Leone ended a long and frustrating year of near-misses with a sustained charge from far back to win Saturday’s $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar by 1 1/2 lengths over favored Fierceness.
Chad Brown, who has long called Sierra Leone one of the best horses he’s ever trained, said after the race that the stars finally aligned for the long-fused son of Gun Runner after a series of agonizing narrow defeats in the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont, Jim Dandy (G2) and Travers (G1) stakes, .
“He’s a great horse and he took to this track today, got the pace he needed and it was his day today,” he said. “…For him to redeem himself and close out the year as probably the best 3-year-old in a very deep division, I could not be more happy for this horse. He really deserves it.”
Sierra Leone broke alertly in the 1 1/4-mile Classic under jockey Flavien Prat and settled into his accustomed spot toward the back of the 14-horse field. He raced three to four wide around the first turn as Japan-based Derma Sotogake set early fractions of 22.43 and 44.96 seconds for the first half-mile – the fastest in Classic history.
Sierra Leone began picking off horses on the upper backstretch and continued to improve his position on the far turn as Fierceness grabbed the lead entering the stretch, chased by a rallying Newgate.
Sierra Leone drew even with Fierceness shortly after the leader completed a mile in 1:35.05 and slowly pulled clear of that rival, who had beaten him in their last two meetings, as Newgate began to fade. The winner stopped the timer in 2:00.78.
Prat said Sierra Leone was in a comfortable position, despite racing wide on the far turn as he ranged up behind the front-runners.
“Obviously the pace was good and we found ourselves in a good spot,” he said. “I was able to stay outside and the whole way around it felt like I was gaining ground on the leaders. Actually I was a bit worried that I got there too soon, but once I got the lead I asked him to make his move and that was it.”
Sierra Leone, the fourth choice in the betting at 6.90-1, returned $15.80 on a $2 win bet and keyed a $29.80 payout on a $1 exacta with runner-up Fierceness. Japan’s Forever Young rallied late to grab third, a half-length ahead of Newgate.
The fancied European runner City of Troy, the 5-2 morning-line favorite despite never having raced on the dirt, never reached contention and finished eighth.
A $2.3 million yearling purchase by White Birch Farm and M.V. Magnier, Sierra Leone improved his record to 9: 4-3-2 and pushed his earnings past $6 million.
Brown said his stable crew deserved ample plaudits for Sierra Leon’s professional performance in the Classic, having spent countless hours working to correct what co-owner Peter Brant described as the colt “acting like a character,” including his habit of veering inward in the stretch.
“I thought we took a tough beat in the (Kentucky) Derby, but we did it with class and respect and went back to the drawing board and worked on getting him straight,” Brown said. “My team deserves a lot of credit for working with this horse.”
Brown also praised Sierra Leone’s ownership group – Brant, M.V. and Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Brook T. Smith – for their patience as they were working the kinks out.
He also had kind words for his mentor, the late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel.
“Bobby was a very rare person and generous person and a great mentor,” he said. “At moments like this, I always think of him.”
Brown made a case at the post-race news conference for Sierra Leone deserving 3-year-old honors, saying his consistency and toughness should be enough to tilt the voting scales in his favor over divisional rival Fierceness.
But he conceded that Horse of the Year honors should go to Thorpedo Anna, who captured the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff two races prior to the Classic.
“If she were to get it, you’d get no argument from me,” he said.