BY BROCK SHERIDAN
Sierra Leone, winner of the $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (Grade 1) at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club Saturday, was one of many of the top performers on the World Thoroughbred Championship card with connections to the Ocala/Marion County area as the 3-year-old colt is a graduate of the David Scanlon’s Scanlon Training and Sales located based at the Oak Ridge Training Center in Morriston, Fla.
“When you’re working with all of these babies, you aspire to this,” Scanlon said of Sierra Leone. “You want to have a consistent record and turnout good horses for everybody. But these horses that race at the top—every guy aspires to handle horses like this. The old cliché applies. This is why we get up in the morning and do what we do—to be around these kind of horses. [The Breeders’ Cup Classic victory] was really rewarding.”
Scanlon received Sierre Leone from his clients at Coolmore and Ashford in September of 2022, after the son of Gun Runner had sold for $2.3 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale and said he was immediately impressed.
“When he came in, he was a highly regarded, $2.3 million yearling so he had stunning looks and great size,” Scanlon said. “You know everything you would think for that price. He was just a real elegant stunning horse.”
Sierra Leone started this year winning the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds and the Grade 1 Toyota Blue Grass at Keeneland before finishing second to Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). He as then third in Belmont Stakes (G1), second in the Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun (G2) and third in the Draftkings Travers before winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic Saturday.
“I think things just had to come together. He had some maturing issues he had to deal with,” Scanlon said. “[Trainer] Chad [Brown’s] team, Coolmore and myself, we all thought he was going to be extremely hard to beat in the Derby. But I think some things came into play that day—maturity being one of them—he just didn’t have his day.
“I told my wife Saturday, ‘I don’t know if this is his day, but I feel like this horse is going to have his day today,’” Scanlon continued.
“The talent has always been there. He’s always shown he has this amazing kick and that he is an amazingly talented horse. But he filled out and done so well as a 3-year-old. It was nice to see him finally come together and grow and finally get there.”
Sierra Leone was joined in the Breeders’ Cup Classic exacta by Fierceness, who started his race training at Ocala Stud.
In addition to Sierra Leone, three other winners of Breeders’ Cup races held Saturday received their early training in Central Florida.
Thorpedo Anna, winner of the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1), received her initial race instructions at trainer Ken McPeek’s Silverleaf Hills Training Center in Summerfield, Fla.
Distaff third-place finisher Candied is a graduate of the early training program at Susan Montanye’s SBM.
$2 million Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf-winner Moira is a graduate of Hidden Brook Sales and $2 million Cygames Sprint-winner Straight No Chaser was consigned by Paul Sharp to the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale.
Second in the Sprint was Florida-bred Bentornato, a two-time graduate of OBS having first sold for $45,000 to Pro Racing Stable out of the Stuart Morris consignment. Golden Rock Thoroughbreds consigned him to the 2023 OBS March Sale where Champion Equine purchased him for $170,000. He was bred in Florida by Tanma Corp. and is by Bridlewood Farm’s Valiant Minister.
More Than Looks, winner of the $2 Million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Mile presented by PDJF (G1), was started at Mayberry Farm while Mile second-place finisher Johannes received his early instructions at de Meric Stables and Sales.
Domestic Product, who was third in the $1 million Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1), is also a graduate of de Meric Stables and Sale.
