NYRA Photo

Sierra Leone, Domestic Product look to provide Chad Brown a first G1 Kentucky Derby score

by Keith McCalmont

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will send out a pair of horses that broke their maiden at Aqueduct Racetrack in graded stakes-winners Sierra Leone and Domestic Product for Saturday’s Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

“Both horses are doing well. They breezed super together the other day here at Churchill and came out of the work good, so we're excited about Saturday,” said Brown, whose best results from seven Derby starters thus far have come with Good Magic [2nd, 2018] and Zandon [3rd, 2022].

The Big A will host a Kentucky Derby watch party Saturday featuring free bourbon tasting, a premium cigar stand, live music and food trucks. An action-packed card of live racing Saturday at Aqueduct offers a pair of Grade 2, $200,000 events in the Ruffian for older fillies and mares on the main track and the Fort Marcy for older horses on turf as well as the Listed $150,000 Elusive Quality for older turf sprinters.

The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby will simulcast live from Churchill Downs as Race 12 with a post time of 6:57 p.m. Eastern. First post at the Big A is 1:05 p.m. with the facility open to the public from 10 a.m. - 8:45 p.m. to accommodate Churchill’s 10:30 a.m. first post.

The well-bred Sierra Leone, a $2.3 million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale purchase, is by Hall of Famer Gun Runner and out of the Grade 1-winning Malibu Moon mare Heavenly Love. He is owned by Peter Brant, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook T. Smith. Sierra Leone’s second dam, the multiple graded stakes-placed Darling My Darling, not only produced Heavenly Love, but also the Grade 2-winning Congrats mare Forever Darling, the dam of the undefeated Japan-bred Derby contender Forever Young [post 11, Ryusei Sakai, 10-1 ML].

Sierra Leone posted his first workout in August at Belmont Park and graduated on debut November 4 at the Big A with a 1 1/4-length score traveling a one-turn mile. He followed with a heartbreaking nose loss to returning rival Dornoch in a key renewal of the Grade 2 Remsen in December at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Danny Gargan-trained Dornoch proved a resilient winner of the nine-furlong Remsen, dictating terms through sharp splits of 23.09 seconds, 46.97 and 1:11.56 over the muddy and sealed track with Sierra Leone in last-of-10 under Jose Ortiz. Dornoch turned for home in front but skimmed the rail inside the three-sixteenths pole as a lugging in Sierra Leone surged by to take a narrow lead. However, a game Dornoch battled back to put his nose down at the wire and secure the narrow win. The talented colts picked up 10 and 5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, respectively, for their efforts as they began their journey to the ‘Run for the Roses.’

Dornoch, a full-brother to last year’s Kentucky Derby-winner Mage, followed by winning the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth in March at Gulfstream Park to prove his class. Sierra Leone added blinkers and jockey Tyler Gaffalione, closing from deep to win the Grade 2 Risen Star by a half-length in February at Fair Grounds. Last out, on April 6 at Keeneland, Sierra Leone took his revenge on Dornoch by rallying to a 1 1/2-length score in the Grade 1 Blue Grass as his familiar foe settled for fourth.

Fittingly, Sierra Leone [post 2, Tyler Gaffalione, 3-1 ML] will be beside Dornoch [post 1, Luis Saez, 20-1 ML] in the starting gate as he looks to complete a hat trick of graded wins in Saturday’s 1 1/4-mile Classic.

“I didn't want to be on the far outside in the last couple spots,” Brown said. “It would have been challenging for this horse to get over towards the rail from there. He would have to take way back behind everyone to successfully do that. Here, he has a straightforward path to stay inside and save ground in at least the first turn. I don't care so much in the second turn where he is. If he saves ground that first turn, he’ll have all the options in the world, hopefully, as horses start to tire.”

Gaffalione, who guided the Brown-trained Sweet Rebecca to victory in Sunday’s Memories of Silver here, is in full agreement.

“Now we don't have to worry about getting over and saving the ground. We’ll already be down there and it leaves a little less to do,” Gaffalione said.

Gaffalione, who won the 2019 Grade 1 Preakness with War of Will, is also in search of his first Derby score.

“This is the dream. This is what we all do this for,” Gaffalione said. “To even be in it is amazing, but to have a horse like this and this opportunity - it's a dream come true. Chad and his team have done a great job with him. We’ll just hope for a good next couple of days and see how we do.”

Domestic Product [post 15, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 30-1 ML], who is campaigned by recent Aqueduct spring meet leading owner Klaravich Stables, posted his first timed work last May over the Oklahoma dirt training track at Saratoga Race Course.

He finished off-the-board on debut sprinting six furlongs at the Spa in August, but was a dominant winner at second asking when stretched out to nine furlongs on October 27 at Belmont at the Big A.

The Practical Joke colt came up empty when seventh in the Remsen but has since removed blinkers and fired off two good efforts under Gaffalione that include a second in the Grade 3 Holy Bull on February 3 at Gulfstream and a neck win last out on March 9 in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby. Irad Ortiz, Jr. will pick up the mount on Domestic Product on Saturday.

“He's training super. I think he can get the mile and a quarter and he'll get pace. We’ll see,” said Brown, who has enjoyed Triple Crown series success in the Grade 1 Preakness with Cloud Computing [2017] and Early Voting [2022] along with a runner-up effort in the 2018 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes with Gronkowski.

A number of Kentucky Derby contenders paved their path to the ‘Run for the Roses’ via the Big A, including Resilience [post 19, Junior Alvarado, 20-1 ML] for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott and the Gargan-trained Society Man [post 20, Frankie Dettori, 50-1 ML], who finished one-two in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino on April 6.

Resilience, who debuted in September at Saratoga, and Society Man, a fourth-out maiden winner at Aqueduct in March, picked up 100 and 50 qualifying points, respectively, for their performance in the nine-furlong Wood Memorial.

The Brad Cox-trained Just a Touch [post 8, Florent Geroux, 10-1 ML] picked up 25 Derby qualifying points for a runner-up effort in the Grade 3 Gotham on March 2 here, while the morning-line favorite Fierceness [post 17, John Velazquez, 5-2 ML] graduated on debut on August 25 at the Spa for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher en route to a victory in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November at Santa Anita and honors as Champion 2-Year-Old Colt. Just Steel [post 6, Keith Asmussen, 20-1 ML] also graduated at Saratoga, posting a nose win on August 5 for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

Sophomore fillies take center stage on Friday at Churchill Downs as a star-studded field travels nine-furlongs in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Kentucky Oaks which is slated as Race 11 at 5:51 p.m. Eastern.

Brown will be represented by a pair of strong contenders for Klaravich Stables in Grade 1-placed Ways and Means [post 11, Tyler Gaffalione, 5-1 ML] and Grade 3-placed Regulatory Risk [post 4, Jose Ortiz, 20-1 ML].

Ways and Means, by Practical Joke, romped to a memorable 12 3/4-length victory on August 6 at Saratoga in a six-furlong maiden event and followed with a troubled second in the Spa’s Grade 1 Spinaway after rushing up and clipping heels with eventual winner Brightwork inside the three-quarter pole.

The Kentucky homebred earned her way into Friday’s test with a runner-up effort on March 30 in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks where she was in tight into the first turn before making an early move for the lead only to be overtaken by returning foe Power Squeeze.

Ways and Means posted a bullet half-mile breeze in 46.20 seconds Friday at Churchill that Brown noted may have been a little too quick.

“She did work a little fast, but she seemed to come out of it very well. So far, so good with her,” Brown said. “She certainly looks like she can handle the mile and eighth.”

Regulatory Risk, by Omaha Beach, broke her maiden on December 30 at Aqueduct and secured her Oaks spot by picking up 50 qualifying points for her runner-up effort last out on April 6 here in the nine-furlong Grade 3 Gazelle.

The talented bay, who will race with blinkers off Friday, put a head in front at the quarter-pole in the Gazelle and battled briefly with the eventual winner and returning foe Where’s My Ring [post 3, Jose Lezcano, 15-1 ML], who went on to win by 4 1/4-lengths.

“She ran super in that race,” Brown said. “We'll take the blinkers off here and see if we can get her to relax a little more. We might get a little more of a forward move now. I think she's being wearing herself out a little bit with those blinkers early in the race.”

Other familiar Oaks contenders for Big A punters including the Cox-trained Gin Gin [post 2, Florent Geroux, 30-1 ML], who secured the majority of her qualifying points here by winning the Busanda [20 points] in January and finishing third in both the Busher [15 points] in March and the Gazelle [25 points].

The Mott-trained Just F Y I [post 13, Junior Alvarado, 9-2 ML] won her first two starts in New York, graduating in August at the Spa ahead of a 3 3/4-length score in the Grade 1 Frizette in October at Belmont at the Big A. She went on to win the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in November at Santa Anita en route to honors as Champion 2-Year-Old Filly.

Just F Y I enters from a runner-up effort to returning rival Leslie’s Rose [post 14, Irad Ortiz, Jr., 4-1 ML] in the Grade 1 Ashland on April 5 at Keeneland. The Pletcher-trained Leslie’s Rose was unveiled on November 19 at Aqueduct, taking a 6 1/2-furlong maiden tilt by 9 1/4-lengths. The Pletcher-trained Candied [post 16, Luis Saez, 20-1 ML] is yet another August Spa maiden winner but will need some help to get in from the also-eligible list.

Friday’s card at Aqueduct will feature a pair of graded events with the Grade 3, $200,000 Sheepshead Bay at nine-furlongs on turf for older fillies and mares in Race 3 and the Grade 3, $175,000 Westchester, a one-turn mile for older horses in Race 8. First post on the nine-race card is 1:05 p.m. Operating hours at the Big A on Friday are 10 a.m. – 7:15 p.m. to accommodate a 10:30 a.m. first post from Churchill.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont at the Big A, and the best way to bet every race of the spring/summer meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.