Coolmore America announced Oct. 8 that multiple grade 1 winner and 2024 champion 3-year-old male Sierra Leone will take up stud duties in 2026 at Ashford Stud in Central Kentucky following his final start in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar Nov. 1.
"I've trained a lot of great horses, and to me, I'd say unequivocally he's the best horse I've had my hands on … he's just in a different league," trainer Chad Brown said.
Sierra Leone was purchased by Peter Brant's White Birch Farm with M.V. Magnier on behalf of Coolmore and Brook Smith, for $2.3 million, making him the top price for the 2022 The Saratoga Sale, Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale in New York. The son of leading sire Gun Runner was bred by Debby Oxley and sold at Saratoga by Gainesway.
Stepping straight into graded company on his second start at 2, Sierra Leone lost little in defeat, going down by a nose to future American classic winner Dornoch following a luckless run in the 2023 Remsen Stakes (G2).
At 3, Sierra Leone quickly became a leading contender for the championship honors with consecutive victories in the Risen Star Stakes (G2) and Blue Grass Stakes (G1). A troubled passage in the Kentucky Derby (G1) saw Sierra Leone forced widest of all round the home turn in the 20-runner field, suffering defeat by a nose to the rail-running Mystik Dan .
Never ducking a fight, Sierra Leone went on to placed finishes in the Belmont Stakes (G1), Jim Dandy Stakes (G2), and Travers Stakes (G1). He would seal the championship title with a 1 1/2-length victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic against three-time grade 1 winner and 2023 champion 2-year-old male Fierceness, who had taken the Travers Stakes earlier.
Sierra Leone carried his class, soundness, and determination into his 4-year-old campaign that has included winning the Whitney Stakes (G1) and runner-up finishes in the Stephen Foster Stakes (G1) and Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1).
"We're incredibly excited to welcome Sierra Leone to Ashford for the coming season," Ashford Stud's Dermot Ryan said. "When you hear someone like Chad Brown say that he is the best he has ever trained, it doesn't get any better than that."
"He has been a model of class and consistency; never running out of the first three in 13 starts. His dam won the grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes at 2 and he is from an exceptional line of producers, with his first three dams all being grade 1 fillies," Ryan continued.
Sierra Leone's dam is the Malibu Moon daughter Heavenly Love, who is out of grade 1-placed stakes winner and multiple stakes producer Darling My Darling. Sierra Leone's third dam is grade 1 winner Roamin Rachel.
"Our sport is becoming more and more global and we are continually looking to produce stallions that appeal to the international market," Ryan said. "In Sierra Leone we have a stallion that hails from a family that has also produced elite performers like Japanese Horse of the Year Zenno Rob Roy and Japanese superstar Forever Young. When you have a champion off the track, with a pedigree like Sierra Leone's and an exceptional physical, you can't wait to see what happens next."
Sierra Leone's stud fee for 2026 will be announced later.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
