OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It didn’t come as a surprise, but trainer Chad Brown was thrilled nonetheless when the connections of Sierra Leone officially announced late Thursday afternoon that the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner would be returning for a 4-year-old campaign in 2025.
“I’m very excited to get the horse back,” Brown said Friday morning at his Belmont Park office. “Like [jockey] Flavien Prat told me after the race, he feels the horse continues to get better, he’s improving so much, he’s just figuring stuff out. He’s always had the raw ability, but we both share that feeling that the horse is still improving.”
Sierra Leone, who added the Classic to a résumé that includes a victory in the Grade 1 Blue Grass and Grade 2 Risen Star, is battling for top 3-year-old honors with Fierceness, the BC Classic runner-up, who also is a two-time Grade 1 winner. Sierra Leone and Fierceness faced each other four times in 2024, with each finishing ahead of the other twice. Fierceness also will be returning in 2025.
Sierra Leone, owned by the Coolmore connections of John Magner, Michael Tabor, and Derrick Smith as well as Westerberg, Brook Smith, and Peter Brant, is getting a brief freshening at Ashford Stud in Kentucky and is expected to join Brown at Payson Park toward the end of November. Brown said the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 22 in Riyadh could very well be an early 2025 target.
“The Saudi Cup is definitely in play,” Brown said.
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Sierra Leone went winless in three starts at Saratoga, a third in the Belmont Stakes and Travers and a second in the Jim Dandy. Brown said he felt that Sierra Leone may not have cared for Saratoga as much as other tracks.
However, Brown said that didn’t necessarily rule out running Sierra Leone next summer at Saratoga in a race like the Whitney.
“We’ll see how the track is,” Brown said.
Meanwhile, Brown confirmed that Carl Spackler, a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2024, also is slated to return to action in 2025. Carl Spackler finished sixth in the BC Mile.
“There was interest in him from stallion farms, but nothing got done,” Brown said. “Bob and the Edwards family are happy to race him.”
Carl Spackler won the Grade 1 Fourstardave at Saratoga and the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland this year.
Brown said that Gina Romantica, who missed the Breeders’ Cup Mile due to a quarter crack, is being prepared for a start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Matriarch on Dec. 1 at Del Mar. He will likely have others for that race as well.
Rhiannon may point to Pegasus F-M Turf
Rhiannon came off a year layoff to win a first-level allowance race by four lengths Thursday at Aqueduct and could be considered for the Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf on Jan. 25, Brown said.
Rhiannon, a 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, hadn’t started since last year’s Pebbles Stakes when she finished fifth, beaten 1 1/2 lengths.
“It’s been frustrating keeping her on the track,” Brown said. “We’ll see where that takes us. It’s late in the year to get started, but she could be an interesting horse going into the winter. The Pegasus Filly and Mare Turf is something we might consider.”
Rhiannon earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.
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