Sierra Leone 'Super' In First Work Since Jim Dandy

Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Rocket Ship Racing, and Peter Brant's dual graded stakes-winner Sierra Leone  had his first work back Aug. 11 since a runner-up finish in the July 27 Jim Dandy (G2).

New York Racing Association clockers caught the son of Gun Runner   covering a half-mile solo in :49 over Saratoga Race Course's Oklahoma training track shortly after 7:30 a.m.

"He worked super," said four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. "He's come out of his last race well and I'm happy with where he's at."

Sierra Leone is targeting the $1.25 million Travers (G1) Aug. 24 on the heels of a game runner-up finish to reigning champion 2-year-old Colt Fierceness  in the Jim Dandy. There, he showed his signature come-from-behind tactics and came on late in the lane to threaten on the inside but finished one length shy.

Sierra Leone was a narrowly defeated second in the Kentucky Derby (G1) in May and a hard-trying third in the Belmont Stakes (G1) in June, with both efforts including some drifting late in the lane.

Brown began working Sierra Leone solo prior to the Jim Dandy and also switched from a cage bit to a ring bit.

"I'm not concerned with how he's going to travel," Brown said. "He's focused and he's traveling really consistently.

"It's an area of his training that he's kind of graduated into," added Brown. "He's got a lot of experience now and fitness, so at this stage of his career, it seems to be working good for him. We'll see where it takes us. For right now, he's fine doing that. We're very much so on target for the Travers."

Bred in Kentucky by Debby M. Oxley, Sierra Leone was a $2.3 million purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale. He notched graded stakes wins this winter and spring in the Risen Star (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and the Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland. He has banked just over $2.2 million in purses with a record of 3-3-1 from seven starts.