Coolmore and co debating whether to roll the dice again with Sierra Leone or retire the Breeders’ Cup Classic hero

Although Peter Brant, one of the co-owners of Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, expressed his desire during a November 2 post-race news conference to see him run next year aged four, the ownership group is also considering the alternative of standing him at stud in 2025.

Co-owner Brook Smith, speaking to reporters on the Del Mar back stretch on Sunday, the day after the Classic, said the partners in the colt, which includes him, Brant and Coolmore Stud-affiliated owners, had a conversation about Sierra's Leone's future on Saturday after the race. 

"I'm the guy that does the listening and the nodding because why would I open my mouth given the history of those guys?" he said in a nod to his partners, who are more experienced in racing and breeding and more in tune with the value of a potential stallion. "And I don't think it's been decided yet.

"I mean, the logical thing from a breeding perspective - not logical, but the easy decision – is okay, let's go to the [breeding] shed, but it's definitely worth having a conversation about because he's sound, knock on wood, and he looks like he's just now kind of maturing, coming into his own. So he could very easily kind of follow the path of his daddy."

His sire is none other than Gun Runner, the second-leading sire in North America, who, after a promising three-year-old campaign in 2016, in which he won the Grade 1 Clark Handicap and other races, had an even more rewarding campaign at age four. That year in 2017, he won four Grade 1s, topped by the Breeders' Cup Classic en route to Horse of the Year honours.

He also made one start as a five-year-old, winning the $16.3 million Group 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes in January 2018, just before the start of the breeding season.

The Pegasus remains an option for potential stallions, though its purse of $3m is down sharply from the days of a slot-boosting format that led to massive purses for its first couple of years.

Racing further into the winter and spring provides options such as the $20m Saudi Cup and $12m Dubai World Cup in the Middle East during the winter and early spring.

To compete in the latter two races, however, would require forgoing the 2025 breeding season with a highly valuable horse. Sierra Leone is deemed as the full package. Besides being by Gun Runner, the Debby Oxley-bred colt is out of the Grade 1-winning Malibu Moon mare Heavenly Love.

His looks, pedigree and racing potential are why his owners went to $2.3m to buy him from Fasig-Tipton's The Saratoga Sale in 2022.

His owners at that time were betting on him developing into a stallion, and with his achievements that will at some point become a reality. His value now far exceeds his initial eyecatching price. 

Coolmore's American stallions stand at Ashford Stud in central Kentucky.

Asked if the partners had set a timeline for the decision, Smith did not give a specific answer, saying, "I think that everybody will soak this thing in."

Chad Brown: Sierra Leone's trainer oversaw his shipment back to Kentucky - will Florida be the next stop? Credit: Edward Whitaker

Neither trainer Chad Brown nor any of the other owners besides Smith were at Del Mar when Smith spoke to the media during a designated time for day-after photographs and press access.

"Everything's all good," said assistant trainer Baldo Hernandez on Sunday morning. "He will ship tomorrow to Kentucky and maybe Florida after that. I don't know for sure; it's up to the boss."

Smith said the Backside Learning Center earned $58,000 from his share in Sierra Leone's earnings through the Purses for Purpose programme in which he participates. Smith donates ten per cent of his stable's earnings to the BLC. He also said he has a "ticket worth $30,000" he plans to give to the award-winning non-profit.

As announced last month, Coolmore has secured the breeding rights to Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Fierceness, having entered into a deal with owner Mike Repole of Repole Stable after the colt won the 2023 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Repole indicated in a post on X that he was staying in with a significant share in Fierceness' breeding rights. The agreement includes a provision for Fierceness to potentially run back as a four-year-old.

In a post on X on Sunday, Repole stated he indeed plans to keep Fierceness in training for 2025.

"The great news is l've made the decision to bring back Fierceness next year with the goal of being the best four-year-old in the world! The ultimate goal for Fierceness is to come back to Del Mar and take care of some unfinished business and win the 2025 Breeders' Cup Classic," Repole stated on the social media platform.

Coolmore will receive 50 per cent of Fierceness's racing rights for a four-year-old campaign, Repole posted.

"He came out of the race very well," Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher told Breeders' Cup publicity on Sunday. 

"Looks good this morning. He's going to go to Kentucky tomorrow and is going to get a complete physical. Currently, the plan would be for him to go on to Palm Beach Downs from there and prepare for a four-year-old campaign." 

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