With another year coming to an end, nine BloodHorse staff members voted on the best races of 2024.
Ranked No. 4 is the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 2 at Del Mar.
How it played out
If there was any doubt that 2024 belonged to 3-year-olds, they faded from sight after the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Not only were 3-year-olds first and second under the wire, but a 3-year-old from Japan who was third by two noses in the Kentucky Derby (G1) was third in a star-studded field that truly featured the best dirt males in the world. Among the field of 14 were three starters from a Japan and Europe’s City of Troy who was trying dirt for the first time but was so accomplished on turf that he was considered by many to be the best horse in the world.
Yet they were no match for Sierra Leone and Fierceness who turned the $7 million Classic into a gem.
Fierceness, who beat Sierra Leone in the Travers Stakes (G1), was the 5-2 favorite in the Classic, with City of Troy next at 7-2 followed by the Japanese 3-year-old Forever Young , who would finish third, at 4-1 and Sierra Leone at 6-1.
Other than the money on City of Troy, who failed to fire and finished eighth, the bettors had it right.
The fractions were brutal in the 1 1/4-mile Classic as Derma Sotogake sped through sprint-like early times of :22.43 and :44.96 before fading and finishing 13th.
Fierceness, trained by Todd Pletcher and owned by Repole Stable, was second after the blistering half-mile and surged to the front midway on the final turn after six furlongs in 1:09.44.
Meanwhile, jockey Flavien Prat was 11th on the Chad Brown-trained Sierra Leone after the opening quarter-mile and lingered toward the back of the pack down the backstretch. But on the final turn, the son of Gun Runner quickly moved into contention five wide and was third and closing fast as Fierceness passed the quarter pole with the lead.
Sierra Leone’s momentum carried him to a short lead over Fierceness by the time the field reached the top of the stretch and from there the two battled down the stretch until Sierra Leone edged away late. Second by a nose in the Kentucky Derby and third in the Belmont Stakes (G1), he closed the year in brilliant fashion, winning decisively by 1 1/2 lengths in 2:00.78 for the 1 1/4 miles.
The win was the fourth in nine starts for Sierra Leone. Purchased for $2.3 million at Fasig-Tipton’s The Saratoga Sale, he lifted his earnings to $6,008,000 for the ownership group of Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook Smith.
The son of the Malibu Moon mare Heavenly Love was bred by Debby Oxley in Kentucky.
Quotable
Chad Brown, trainer of Sierra Leone: “The Classic was certainly the most rewarding and biggest win of an outstanding year for our team. To win the richest race in North America with the same horse who was a hard-luck loser in the Kentucky Derby, it made the whole year for us. It gave us a sense of accomplishment and redemption for a horse who we believed was always the best 3-year-old and proved it in the biggest race.”
Mike Repole, owner of Fierceness: “It was an incredible race. There was a suicidal pace and Fierceness ran the greatest race of his life to finish second. Sierra Leone, with the pace, was the best horse that day, but it doesn’t mean he ran the best race or is a better horse. At the top of the stretch, I thought Sierra Leone would win by 15 1/2 and if it wasn’t for the toughness of Fierceness he would have won by a lot more. Because of the pace the better horse didn’t win.”
Impact
The Classic figures to give Sierra Leone a narrow edge over Fierceness in the battle for the Eclipse Award as the champion 3-year-old male. The two rivals met four times in 2024 with each of them finishing ahead of the other twice and both having two grade 1 wins. But with a nose loss in the Kentucky Derby and a win in the year-end showdown at the World Championships, Sierra Leone has a résumé that’s hard to top.
Notable
The victory gave Brown 19 Breeders’ Cup wins, lifting him into a tie for third with Bob Baffert on the all-time list … It was his first win in the Classic … Prat, who was aboard Flightline in 2022, has won two of the last three editions of the Classic … Since Arrogate won the 2016 Classic, Sierra Leone and Authentic (2020) are the only 3-year-olds to win the centerpiece race at the Breeders’ Cup.
The Top 10 countdown started Dec. 20 with No. 10, the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T), followed by No. 9, the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1T), No. 8, the Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1), the Preakness Stakes (G1) and the Kentucky Oaks (G1). tied at No. 6, No. 5, the Jaipur Stakes (G1T), and No. 4, the Belmont Stakes (G1).
