By Mike Kane
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–In an intriguing GI Travers Stakes loaded with talent and questions, will anyone be surprised if 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) wins?
Nope.
Although it is unlikely that the colt trained by Chad Brown will be the betting favorite Saturday in the 155th running of the signature race at Saratoga Race Course–he is a narrow fourth at 7-2 on the morning line–Sierra Leone's record demands respect. He has never been worse than third in seven career starts. One of those victories came in the GI Blue Grass. His three seconds in a 3-3-1 record are by two noses–most notably in the GI Kentucky Derby–and one length. His third was by 1 1/2 lengths in the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga on June 8 when the deep closer stumbled at the start and delivered a big rally over a speed-favoring track.
Sierra Leone and jockey Flavien Prat will start from Post 2 in the field of eight entered in the $1.25-million Travers. Leaving from the next stall in the 1 1/4-mile race will be his Brown stablemate Unmatched Wisdom (Cairo Prince). Unmatched Wisdom, to be ridden by Irad Ortiz, Jr. for the first time, is unbeaten through three starts and is making his graded stakes debut. The field includes Belmont and GI Haskell winner, the 5-2 favorite Dornoch (Good Magic), the brilliant 3-year-old filly Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna), and 'TDN Rising Star', 2-year-old champion and beaten Derby favorite Fierceness (City of Light), providing a serious handicapping challenge.
Brown grew up in nearby Mechanicville and began attending the Travers as a young boy with his family. He has saddled 15 horses in the Travers from his debut in 2011. His top finishes are a pair of thirds: Miles D (Curlin) in 2021 and Zandon (Upstart) in 2022.
Sierra Leone | Sarah Andrew
Much has been expected of Sierra Leone after he was the $2.3-million topper at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale. Since his winning debut on Nov. 4 at Aqueduct he has proven to be a top-level race horse with $2,218,00 in earnings. In his last three starts, though, the Derby, Belmont and a second in the GII Jim Dandy, he was a major player, but not a winner. He has been a mix of fabulous and frustrating for Brown.
“The horse is doing great. He's got no excuse,” Brown said. “He's a very consistent horse. He's run really consistently good races. Recently, he's likely run into horses that are really on their best day and had beaten him.
“He's consistent. He's always there. He's the horse that keeps showing up in these races. I'm hoping that over time, his consistency will prevail and he'll get back to winning. His first couple starts of the year were very impressive, that he was able to win, and his losses have been by small margins.”
Brown noted that Sierra Leone, co-owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Rocket Ship Racing and Peter Brant, has been a durable type. This will be his sixth start as a 3-year-old in a season spread over seven months.
“I've never been disappointed with this horse,” Brown said. “I've been disappointed with a couple of the results, him being on the wrong side of the outcomes at the finish, but I've never, ever been disappointed in this horse.”
In his run through the stretch of the Derby, he bore in and bumped with Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel (Jpn), and that incident that might have compromised both colts' chances to win. Brown changed bits and jockeys for the Belmont, replacing Tyler Gaffalione with Prat. The bias of the course, the rough start and being forced wide by Protective (Medaglia d'Oro) entering the stretch did not help him.
Brown said it would be nice if the Sierra Leone could get a better position earlier, rather than coming from so far off the pace.
“I don't believe in any of his races it's been for any fault of any jockeys that have ridden him,” Brown said. “This horse just doesn't have a lot of early speed. But in a perfect world, yeah, I wish he was a couple lengths closer early. Certainly, we're going to attempt to put him there. I don't think anyone's taking him back. It's just the horse sort of settling, kind of where he ends up early. If we could encourage him to be a little closer, I do think it would be beneficial.”
Unmatched Wisdom (outside) | Sarah Andrew
With speedy Dornoch, Fierceness, Thorpedo Anna, Batten Down (Tapit) and Unmatched Wisdom in the field, Sierra Leone could get an ideal setup in the Travers.
“His running style is pretty defined,” Brown said. “You can see that he's a come-from-behind horse so hopefully a good pace develops in front of him and he can navigate a clean trip without getting stopped and come with his late run and hopefully at a mile and a quarter, it's good enough to get there in time.”
Klaravich Stables's Unmatched Wisdom fell sick last year when he was being prepared for the races and did not debut until May 10. He won a muddy mile maiden at Aqueduct by 6 1/4 lengths, prevailed in a 1 1/8-mile allowance on June 22 by 5 3/4 lengths and led from gate to wire in the Curlin Stakes on July 19 to win by one length.
“He's done nothing wrong,” Brown said. “He's training really well. He's got to step up. He's facing three of the most talented 3-year-olds in the crop, including Thorpedo Anna, Fierceness and Dornoch. These three horses are really at the top of the division, so he's going to have to step up and prove he belongs in that group.”
Brown said he considered a couple of factors before deciding to enter Unmatched Wisdom in the historic Travers.
“He's got a win over the track,” Brown said. “He seems to be doing well here. I think he's improved since the Curlin. I didn't momentarily think about waiting for the (GI) Pennsylvania Derby, but you only get one crack at the Travers. He's got good positional speed, and his last work here with Irad on him (Aug. 16, 5f in 1:00.41, 3/6), really convinced me to give it a shot.”
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