DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — Sierra Leone won the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic by 1 1/2 lengths Saturday at Del Mar, ending a frustrating run of recent losses. Ridden by Flavien Prat, Sierra Leone ran 1 1/4 miles in 2:00.
78. Sent off as the 6-1 fourth choice, he paid $15.80, $5.
60 and $3.60 in his first race after a two-month layoff. Sierra Leone lost by a nose to Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby and then finished third in the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga.
That's where he was second in the Jim Dandy and third in the Travers. Chad Brown earned his 19th career Cup win, leaving him one short of career leading trainers Aidan O'Brien, who won two races Friday, and D. Wayne Lukas.
Prat won his 49th graded stakes race of the year. Fierceness, the 5-2 favorite, returned $4.40 and $3.
20. Forever Young of Japan was another 2 3/4 lengths back in third and paid $3.60 to show.
Newgate, trained by Bob Baffert, was fourth in the full field of 14. Ireland-based City of Troy, the 4-1 third choice with six wins in seven career starts on Turf, finished eighth in his first start on dirt for O'Brien. In the $2 million Distaff, Thorpedo Anna won by 2 1/2 lengths, helping trainer Ken McPeek snap an 0-for-37 skid in the Breeders’ Cup.
She ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.10 under jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. Sent off as the 2-5 favorite, she paid $2.
80 — the second-shortest win payout in Breeders’ Cup history. “The expectation with her is so high,” McPeek said. “I love the fact that Brian took the in.
