Can a $2.3M colt reward Keeneland and trainer at the Derby?
The $2.3 million thoroughbred colt Sierra Leone can check a couple of important Kentucky Derby boxes on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Box 1 belongs to the Blue Grass Stakes. No winner of Keeneland Race Course’s Grade 1 Kentucky Derby prep race has continued on to win the roses since trainer Nick Zito’s Strike the Gold accomplished the feat way back in 1991.
Box 2 belongs to Chad Brown. The 45-year-old New York native is a four-time Eclipse Award winning trainer with 15 Breeders’ Cup victories and a pair of Preakness Stakes wins to his credit. He has never won the Kentucky Derby, however.
“It’s a hard race to win,” Brown said last week.
He’s come close twice. Among his seven Derby starters is Good Magic, who finished second to Triple Crown winner Justify in 2018, and Zandon, who finished third in the 2022 Derby won by 80-1 shot Rich Strike.
“When you come close and you’re walking back after the race, it does go through your mind if you’ll get back here again,” Brown said Saturday after Sierra Leone worked 5 furlongs in 1:00.1. “To get here and have two good horses with a chance, you feel very fortunate.”
Indeed, Brown has a pair of Derby 150 starters, including a Grade 3 winner who has been overshadowed by Sierra Leone, the likely second choice among Derby bettors behind Florida Derby winner Fierceness.
Owned by Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables, Domestic Product ran second in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes on
Feb. 3 at Gulfstream. A month later, the son of Practical Joke won the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby on March 9.
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone brought a $2.3 million price tag at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. The son of Gun Runner was purchased by White Birch Farm and M.V. Magnier and is owned by Peter M. Brant, Mrs. John Mangnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg and Brook T. Smith.
Should Seirra Leone win Saturday, he would be the first million-dollar yearling to win the Kentucky Derby since Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000. Fusaichi Pegasus brought $4 million in 2000.
“When they decided to partner on the horse, the understanding was if they got him, it was going to me and I was quite excited about it,” Brown said of Sierra Leone. “He’s an impeccably made and bred horse. I’ve had well-bred horses that don’t quite pan out to their expectations, but this horse has. He’s really everything and more they thought when they bought him.”
After winning his career debut last Nov. 4, Sierra Leone finished second to Dornoch in the Remsen. He opened 2024 with an impressive win in the Grade 2 Risen Star at the Fair Grounds on Feb. 17 before winning the Blue Grass by 1 1/2 lengths over trainer Brad Cox’s Just a Touch.
Sierra Leone’s lone problem that day was loading into the starting gate. In the No. 10 outside post position, the colt balked, thanks to what Brown said was “something in the crowd.”
There will be a much larger crowd on Derby day. Thus Brown schooled Sierra Leone twice in Churchill’s gate last week. “He did really well,” the trainer said.
Another caveat: Sierra Leone is a deep closer in a race that doesn’t always favor closers.
“I mean, he’s got a tremendous amount of power and endurance,” Brown said. “He might not be the fastest horse early in his races, but once he gets moving, it does seem like he strides fully.”
Asked about dealing with such a large ownership group, Brown pointed to their individual experiences and contributions to the game. Married to the former model Stephanie Seymour, Brant was part of the Claiborne Farm group that owned 1984 Kentucky Derby winner Swale. He bred 1995 winner Thunder Gulch, who was owned by Michael Tabor.
So after coming close before, how does Brown feel about his chances this time around?
“I feel pretty confident,” the trainer said. “Good Magic, I was pretty confident would run a big race. With Zandon, I felt super confident based on his last work here. Both horses got really good trips. I didn’t have any excuse. They just couldn’t quite get there.
“So my two horses this year, I feel as confident that they’ll have good runs in the Derby, if they get the trip.”