Sierra Leone Kicks In The Win, Fierceness Places, Forever Young Shows

Sierra Leone, always up front among the very best — second in the Kentucky Derby, third in the Belmont — showed power, maturity and excellent control as he took command of a thrilling stretch duel with Fierceness in the last two furlongs of the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic to kick past the highly favored Fierceness and take the big race. The hard-charging late closer had largely been written off as City of Troy, Fierceness and the Japan-owned Forever Young hoovered up much of the pre-race attention. The victory came as sweetly as possible for trainer Chad Brown, who had stood by his colt through an admirable, if more than a little frustrating, Triple Crown campaign.

City of Troy got off slowly, and the fractions were just a little too fast for him on the dirt. Though he did not seem highly allergic to the surface, the general newness of everything in the race, including the pace, did seem to etch at him, and he did not run as himself, with his customary power and elan. Not surprisingly, he didn’t figure in the race.

Instead, it was a hard-charging Fierceness and the almost electric Forever Young who sprang well out of the gate and kept in contention up the backstretch, nosing out of the pack in the top of the stretch and seeming to have command at that point. Sierra Leone had been lurking behind them as was his custom and at the top of the stretch his jockey Flavien Prat coolly found some daylight and took Sierra Leone just a lane-and-a-half wide. Sierra Leone showed his appreciation for the sightline at the victory by hauling from within himself a magisterial kick that powered him around the two frontrunners and kept going. At the wire with the victory in his teeth, he was fairly airborne.