LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Those around Sierra Leone will quickly tell you, the colt was destined to run under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.
"Really just a gifted horse since birth, I'd say I mean, he's you know, you don't go to the Saratoga yearling sale and bring over $2 million. Unless, you know, you're the man, you know, and I'm proud of the horse. He backed it up," trainer Chad Brown said.
The 3-year old will be one of the favorites in the Run for the Roses.
"Surreal, you know, unimaginable. It's a lot to process. I wish there was a way that I could somehow share it, you know, with all the people that look at these types of moments," Sierra Leone co-owner Brook T. Smith said.
Brown believes Sierra Leone has all the right tools to take on the mile and quarter and is excited that he’ll get a shot at it at the Kentucky Derby.
Everything was cemented in the Bluegrass Stakes, when Sierra Leone came from the back to the front.
"On that day, or that weekend, and you know, he made up nine links in the race. So, for him to get over the gate delay and close on that track really showed me that he's [in] top form," Brown said.
This will be Brown’s eighth crack at winning the Derby. He had near misses with Good Magic in 2018 and Zandon in 2022.
"We've had a couple of good chances from this race. Yes, I'd say this is a unique horse for us. He's nearly undefeated, really. To bring a horse in here – nearly undefeated – he’s coming in off the best race of his life very impressive," he said.
Truly a horse that allows his connections to dream the ultimate dream.
"Well, it would be the, you know, really the crowning achievement for me and my team to Kentucky Derby is really what every trainer really shoots for when they decide to enter this profession and, and the 150th Derby would be really something extra special."
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