Sierra Leone Up to Third in NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll

Sierra Leone, the 2024 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) winner, is on the rise in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top Thoroughbred Poll. Exiting a come-from-behind victory in a hot-paced Whitney Stakes (G1) Aug. 2 at Saratoga Race Course, the Gun Runner colt climbed in the latest rankings from eighth to third, trailing only 3-year-old Sovereignty and fellow 4-year-old Mindframe. Sovereignty has won four stakes in five starts this year, including the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1), and Mindframe is unbeaten in three stakes. The latter defeated Sierra Leone in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) in late June. Poll leader Sovereignty received 15 first-place votes, and Mindframe and Sierra Leone received eight and six, respectively. Reigning Horse of the Year and fifth-place Thorpedo Anna received the only other first-place vote. Sovereignty also leads this week's Breeders' Cup Classic Rankings in a separate poll conducted by the media. The Chad Brown-trained Sierra Leone is 1-1-1 in three starts this year for owners Peter Brant, Susan Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, and Brook Smith. He was runner-up to Mindframe, beaten a length, in the Stephen Foster, which followed a third-place finish in the March 22 New Orleans Classic (G2) to kick off his 2025 campaign. The NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll, voting for which is conducted by national media, represents horses competing for Horse of the Year. The Top Thoroughbred Poll concludes Nov. 4, a few days after the two-day Breeders' Cup this fall at Del Mar. The full poll and votes by voter can be found online.