There is no greater satisfaction for a Thoroughbred breeder than establishing and cultivating a family that branches out and excels over multiple generations. Mission accomplished for John and Debby Oxley, whose breeding exploits produced 2024 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) victor Sierra Leone, one of the headliners in the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1) Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course.
As owners the Oxleys and their blue and yellow checkerboard silks have been ubiquitous in Saturday winner's circles for 30 years and counting. Gal in a Ruckus delivered them their first grade 1 triumph in the 1995 Kentucky Oaks (G1). The following day, they had both Jambalaya Jazz and Pyramid Peak run in the Kentucky Derby (G1). The Oxleys' Fawn Leaf Farm became famous six years later, when their gray/roan colt Monarchos brought home the Derby roses and lifted them to the top of the racing world.
Champion older mare Beautiful Pleasure, grade 1 winner and stallion Sky Mesa , and champion juvenile male and stallion Classic Empire are just some of the Oxleys' other notable runners. As exciting as their racing stable has been, however, the Oxleys take as much pride in their breeding operation, and for good reason.
Said John, the Thoroughbred Club of America's 2024 Honor Guest who also is enshrined in the Polo Hall of Fame for his exploits as a player and executive, "In all our years of racing and winning important stakes, this thread of breeding has become the best theme of all because it is lasting, continuous, and heartwarming. We cherish being next to these Thoroughbreds every day."
In 1998, Debby noticed a yearling filly by Deputy Minister, out of Roamin Rachel, at auction, and went to $300,000 to reel her in. She named the filly Darling My Darling, and watched her earn a pair of grade 1 placings at 2, then excel at Keeneland, winning the Raven Run Stakes at 3 and the Doubledogdare Stakes there a year later. After earning $352,359 racing, Darling My Darling entered the broodmare ranks at Fawn Leap, producing Forever Darling to the cover of Congrats.
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Forever Darling, sold as a yearling by the Oxleys, won the Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) in 2016. As a broodmare, she has gone on to produce Forever Young, a grade 1 winner in Japan and Saudi Arabia who has earned better than $15 million and placed in last year's Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic.
The Oxleys decided to keep Darling My Darling's 2015 filly by Malibu Moon, whom they named Heavenly Love. She also took to the Keeneland surface, scoring in the 2017 Alcibiades Stakes (G1) and earning $346,200 before taking up broodmare duty.
Said John, who enthusiastically embraces planning matings in consultation with Debby, "Doing these breedings is a joyous part of being involved with Thoroughbreds. It's fascinating to try and figure out which new stallions will emerge and do as well as they did on the track."
He guessed right on Gun Runner . Heavenly Love's colt by him looked the part of a million-dollar sales horse from day one. At the 2022 The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale, the yearling brought a winning bid of $2.3 million from Peter Brant's White Birch Farm and M. V. Magnier, and was named Sierra Leone.
He has raced to his purchase price. Last year at 3, the dark bay or brown colt with the come-from-behind running style took the Risen Star (G2) and Blue Grass (G1) stakes in succession before missing by a nose in the Kentucky Derby. Sierra Leone went on to finish third in the Belmont Stakes (G1) and Travers Stakes (G1) before a furious late rally carried him to victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic. That win secured him an Eclipse Award as top 3-year-old male.
Trained by Chad Brown, Sierra Leone has never finished worse than third in his 11 starts to date, banking $6,256,200. The Whitney is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win & You're In race, offering its winner an entry-fee-paid guaranteed starting berth in the Nov. 1 Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar. Only one horse has won the Classic multiple times, a feat accomplished by Tiznow in 2000-01.
Sierra Leone is continuing the excellence put in motion when Debby Oxley selected Darling My Darling from that yearling sale. Raced by Brant and a Coolmore-affiliated partnership that includes Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Westerberg, as well as Brook Smith, Sierra Leone is likely to begin furthering the family legacy when he goes to stud, likely next year at Coolmore's Ashford Stud. But a few more races await.
Not only have Forever Darling and Heavenly Love promulgated their winning genes, but their dam, Roamin Rachel, produced Zenno Rob Roy to the cover of Sunday Silence. Zenno Rob Roy became Japan's champion older horse and Horse of the Year in 2004.
With the family's success in mind, the Oxleys plan to hold on to My Ariabella, a yearling full sister to Sierra Leone. Heavenly Love has also gone on to produce a weanling filly by Nyquist who resides at Fawn Leap near Midway, Ky.
Speaking about the difference of watching a horse they bred run, versus a horse they own, Debby noted, "It can be more nerve-racking as a breeder, because you have the dam and the family. So, you have a long-term interest in how the horse does from that standpoint."
For the Oxleys, Sierra Leone is just the latest example of a runner who is doing just fine.
