06-02-2025
Report: Sierra Leone Out Of Saudi Cup With Hoof Abscess
Trainer Chad Brown told the Thoroughbred Daily News Wednesday that his Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone will not make the trip to the Middle East for the $20 million Saudi Cup due to a hoof abscess which came out of his coronet band.'I couldn't really work him, so I just kind of played it safe and skipped it, which takes him out of the Saudi race,' Brown told TDN. 'It's not a big deal and I'm glad the abscess did come out in a clean fashion. It'll grow down and his foot will be fine. He just wasn't 100 percent to breeze, so I didn't want to push it.'
Sierra Leone will not have his first start of 2025 in the Dubai World Cup, either, Brown said, because he doesn't want to run the colt 1 1/4 miles in his first start of the season. Instead, Brown suggested that the Oaklawn Handicap on April 19 might be a good starting Champion 3-Year-Old of 2024, the son of Gun Runner won the G2 Risen Star and G1 Blue Grass en route to a contentious third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Sierra Leone also ran third in the G1 Belmont Stakes, then placed second in the G2 Jim Dandy and third in the G1 Travers before his late-running triumph in the Breeders' Cup Sierra Leone has a record of 4-3-2 from nine starts for earnings of over $6 more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.
