Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Sierra Leone works at Spa; Prat will replace Gaffalione
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Sierra Leone turned in his penultimate work for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.53 in company with Domestic Product, per Daily Racing Form. Shortly thereafter, trainer Chad Brown announced that Flavien Prat would replace Tyler Gaffalione aboard the Kentucky Derby runner-up in the final leg of the Triple Crown.
Equipped in blinkers, as usual, and working nearest the rail, Sierra Leone posted early splits of 25.98 and 38.03 and was well reserved coming to the wire. He then galloped out another quarter-mile with good energy around the turn while holding a slight edge over his work mate. He completed six panels in 1:15.79 before easing up after seven-eighths in 1:28.74.
“He did just what I wanted him to do, worked a nice, steady little five-eighths,” Brown said. “Just trying to keep him where he’s at. I thought he was moving really well.
“He came out of the race well. I was thrilled how he went into that race. I’m just looking to go into the next one the same way.”
Brown said it hasn’t been easy, but he’s somewhat come to grips with the heartbreaking loss Sierra Leone suffered when beaten a nose by Mystik Dan in the Derby.
“Now that I’ve had time to look back on it, it’s just too bad, because, not taking anything away from the winner, I believe he was probably the best horse in the race,” said Brown. “In horse racing, a lot of times, the best horse doesn’t win. We all know that. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time that happens to us. In this case, it just happened to be in the Derby. But he ran super and I’m very proud of the horse.”
Brown then explained his decision to replace Tyler Gaffalione, who guided Sierra Leone to victories earlier this season in the Grade 2 Risen Star and Grade 1 Blue Grass before his near miss in the Derby. The stretch run of the Derby was eventful between Sierra Leone and third-place finisher Forever Young, and in the aftermath of the race Gaffalione was fined $2,500 for “touching a rival with his left hand” by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commision.
“Going into the second half of the year, I just want to try something different,” Brown began. “Tyler’s done a great job with the horse, he really came through when I needed him, especially in his two prep races. And even in the Derby, he was able, from a tricky post and a tough position, to work out a pretty good trip with a closer in a 20-horse field. I thought his decisions were pretty good.
“But I was a bit disappointed because we sort of left our game plan of having the stick in his left hand, particularly during the second half of the race,” Brown continued. “You really can’t wait until the eighth pole to do that. We had that understanding. He made a lot of right decisions on this horse, but I want to make sure going into the second half of the year that I have a good feeling about all the decisions.”
Brown added that he was “a little disappointed [Gaffalione] wasn’t really prepared going around that final turn. I don’t believe the horse would have been coming in if he’d done what he’d done in the previous two races and had the stick in his left hand to give him one reminder.”
As for Domestic Product, Brown said he has nothing picked out for the horse at the present time. Domestic Product finished a well-beaten 13th in the Derby after throwing a shoe shortly after the start.
“I’m toying with the idea of running him back in the Woody Stephens,” said Brown. “He’s getting keen in his races and a cutback might be in order. In fairness to the horse, he did stumble a little and lost a shoe leaving the gate in the Derby. He grabbed his quarter and ran around there with three shoes.
“But he was keen. I hate to abandon the two turns; he did win the Tampa Derby. I’m just not exactly sure what he should be doing at the moment.”
Brown worked General Partner, another of his top 3-yearold prospects for the second half of the year, over the Oklahoma track on Saturday. General Partner went five furlongs in 1:02.03, followed by a strong gallop-out of 1:14.41.
General Partner, runner-up in the Grade 1 Champagne at 2, has not started since finishing sixth after contesting the early pace with Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
“I brought him to Churchill to run in an allowance race. He was training super, and he just lost his mind over there training,” said Brown. “He was running off in the morning and getting washed out going to and from the track. He just wasn’t happy over there. So I moved him here, he’s gone right back to where he was at Payson, and I’m planning to run him in an allowance race on Belmont Day.”
‘Marie,’ ‘Steward’ work
A pair of likely Belmont candidates, Honor Marie and The Wine Steward, worked over a fast track Saturday at Churchill Downs. Honor Marie went five furlongs in 1:01.40, The Wine Steward a half-mile in 48.
“The horse has been doing incredible since the Derby,” trainer Whit Beckman said of Honor Marie, who finished eighth following an eventful trip in the Derby. “He did it well within himself, galloped out great, in 1:14 and 1:28 and change, then cooled out quick. He’s acting like he wants another crack at a mile and a quarter, which he deserves considering he never really got a chance to move unimpeded for more than 50 yards in the Derby.”
Ben Curtis rode Honor Marie in the Derby but Beckman said he is still mulling over his rider options for the Belmont while indicating no decision will likely be made in that regard until the middle of next week.