Aidan O’Brien has blamed himself for City Of Troy’s forgettable swansong after Sierra Leone charged into contention exiting the far turn and then outdueled Fierceness through the lane to prevail by 1 ½ lengths to win the 41st running of the $7 million Longines Gr1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar on Saturday.
European champion two-year-old and Derby hero City Of Troy will now retire to Coolmore’s base in Fethard, County Tipperary.
He finished eighth on Saturday at his only start on the dirt.
Trainer Aidan O’Brien said: “He lost it at the start and obviously I didn’t have him prepared to come out quick enough. We thought we did but we didn’t. He missed it and left Ryan with no chance really, the race was over at the start. He’s been an incredible horse and it’s so sporting of the lads to let us have a go at this race. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to have him and we’ll look forward to having his foals. It’s great the lads love the sport so much that they aren’t afraid to push the boundaries and put him in somewhere they haven’t been before.”
Jockey Ryan Moore said that they went so hard and he just couldn’t get going. “I let him get comfortable and he’s done well to keep going to the line.”
But the race belonged to Sierra Leone, who was prepped to the moment by Chad Brown and ridden by Flavien Prat.
Sierra Leone covered the 1 ¼ miles in 2:00.78. The victory is the 19th for Brown in the World Championships and first in the Classic. Prat picked up a second Classic victory to go with the Flightline triumph at Keeneland in 2022 and sixth overall.
Flavien Prat drives Sierra Leone to victory as Fierceness chases hard (Pic – Candiese Lenferna)
Derma Sotogake (JPN) led the field through rapid early fractions of :22.43, :44.96 and 1:09.44 with Fierceness tracking just off his flank.
Going into the far turn, Fierceness ranged up to the outside of Derma Sotogake and took over with Sierra Leone on the move right behind him.
Sierra Leone drew on even terms with Fierceness at the top of the stretch and shot on by and slowly extended his margin to the wire. Forever Young (JPN) rallied to finish third, 1 ¼ lengths behind Fierceness and a half-length in front of Newgate.
The victory was worth $3,640,000 and improved Sierra Leone’s earnings to $6,008,000 with a record of 9-4-3-2. It is the second Grade 1 victory for the 3-year-old Kentucky-bred son of 2017 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Gun Runner out of the Malibu Moon mare Heavenly Love.
