‘Just an unbelievable day’: Sierra Leone gives Chad Brown his first Whitney win

Chad Brown has been Saratoga Race Course’s dominant trainer for a decade, with the Mechanicville, New York, native winning seven training titles at the track and scooping up wins in nearly every one of the Spa’s most prestigious races.

But, despite all that success, two of Saratoga’s biggest trophies — the Whitney and the Travers — had always eluded him.

On Saturday, Brown finally crossed one of those milestone wins off the list, scoring his first Whitney win as Sierra Leone and jockey Flavien Prat swept down the stretch to capture the Grade 1, $1 million race by a length over Highland Falls.

“The Travers and the Whitney, those are the two races (that matter) when you grow up in the Capital Region,” Brown said. “Saratoga was built around those kinds of races, and to finally get one with my mom and dad here, my kids and my brother, it’s just an unbelievable day for us to remember forever.”

It was also a long-awaited first Saratoga win for Sierra Leone. The 4-year-old colt won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Eclipse Award as Outstanding 3-Year-Old Male, but he had never reached the winner’s circle at Saratoga in three previous starts, finishing third in the Belmont Stakes, second in the Jim Dandy and third in the Travers in 2024.

“I never was really sold on that he doesn’t like the track. I just think he hasn’t won (here),” Brown said of Sierra Leone, who paid $5.90 to win. “Some of his fastest numbers last year … were actually at Saratoga, he just didn’t get it done.”

“I think he has improved from last year,” Prat said. “I do think last race (the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs in June) was basically his first race of the season, we ran into a slow pace on a fast track, so I had expectations of improvement.”

In both the Jim Dandy and the Travers last summer, Sierra Leone finished behind Fierceness. The Todd Pletcher-trained colt was the 6-5 post time favorite for the Whitney and took the lead heading into the stretch after running past early pacesetters Contrary Thinking and Mama’s Gold, but faded to finish fifth behind Sierra Leone, Highland Falls, Disarm and 2023 Whitney winner White Abarrio.

Sierra Leone, who has five wins and has never been worse than third in 12 lifetime starts, has won his last two head-to-head meetings with Fierceness, though Brown downplayed the rivalry.

“This is not the WWF. This is not people racing. This is horse racing,” Brown said. “And I don’t make it about me. It’s about my horse and my team and the brave jockeys that ride the horse, like Flavien. You’ve got to beat them all. … I respect Fierceness a lot, but I went into it knowing it was more than just him to beat.”

To benefit Sierra Leone’s preferred late-running style, Brown entered longshot Contrary Thinking to “ensure a pace.” Contrary Thinking and Mama’s Gold pulled clear of the field early, but as they hit the stretch, jockey John Velazquez and Fierceness took command.

But, Fierceness — whose trainer, Pletcher, scratched his other Whitney entrant Mindframe on Saturday morning — didn’t have the staying power on Saturday and lost ground in the stretch.

“He ran his eyeballs out, that’s for sure,” Velazquez said.

Meanwhile, Sierra Leone and Highland Falls both made bold moves down the stretch to overtake Fierceness, with Sierra Leone eventually getting clear to win by a length over Highland Falls and Luis Saez.

With the win, Sierra Leone earned a “Win and You’re In” slot to defend his Breeders’ Cup Classic title later this year at Del Mar in southern California.

Brown said the colt could potentially come back and run again at Saratoga in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Aug. 31.

“I’m not afraid to run this horse,” he said. “I’m not afraid of running again, because if he comes out of it sound, I have a lot of time from the Jockey Club Gold Cup (to the Breeders’ Cup).”

Busy day of stakes action

Like Sierra Leone, Deterministic earned a “Win and You’re In” spot, stamping his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Mile with a win in the Grade 1, $750,000 Fourstardave. Coming off a Grade 1 score in the Manhattan back in June, Deterministic got a perfect trip in the 1-mile turf race under jockey Kendrick Carmouche, stalking the pace before hitting the front down the stretch to win by 1 1/4 lengths over Intellect for trainer Miguel Clement.

Miguel Clement has won four graded stakes since taking over the stable previously trained by his father, Christophe, who died in May. Deterministic has accounted for half of those — and both of the younger Clement’s Grade 1 victories.

“This is great,” Miguel Clement said. “It is very rewarding. He was my first Grade 1 winner. It’s a great day. He is top class.”

In the Grade 1, $750,000 Saratoga Derby, jockey Junior Alvarado — a late replacement for intended rider Jaime Torres due to travel issues — made a bold late move to catch front-running Juwelier and win by a half-length for trainer Riley Mott.

It was the first Grade 1 win for Riley Mott, son of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

“I grew up here,” Riley Mott said. “This is my childhood at Saratoga, this is my playground.”

In the Grade 1, $500,000 Test, jockey Jose Ortiz brought trainer Rusty Arnold’s Kilwin from well off the pace to catch Ragtime and Alvarado in the final strides to win the 7-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies.

In the day’s first stakes race, the 120th running of the Grade 2, $200,00 Saratoga Special, Ewing, ridden by Ortiz and trained by Mark Casse, scored an impressive one-length victory over heavily-favored Sanford winner Obliteration.