Sierra Leone Leads Brown’s Formidable “Louisiana Derby Day” Quartet

ByKevin Kilroy —-

Sierra Leone; Hodges Photos
Sierra Leone Leads Brown’s Formidable “Louisiana Derby Day” Quartet

New Orleans, La (March 18, 2025) – With four entered on Louisiana Derby Day, Chad Brown will look to continue the success he achieved last season at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, and in much the same fashion. Along with aiming for consecutive wins in the Muniz (G2) and Tom Benson, Brown is shipping last year’s Risen Star (G2) titleholder Sierra Leone back to New Orleans.

Made the 7-5 morning line favorite in the $500,000 New Orleans Classic presented by Relyne GI By Hagyard (G2), Sierra Leone will make his 4-year-old bow on the same track he kicked off his 3-year-old campaign, which concluded with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar and Champion 3-Year-Old Male honors.

“We chose this spot for a couple reasons,” Brown said. “The horse is ready to run now, so I didn’t want to wait another month and keep training him. Number two, he already has a win over the track. It all just made sense, so he’s ready to go.”

A formful cast of sharp older males have signed on to face Sierra Leona, who has not raced since early November. Five of his nine foes have both raced in 2025 and won their last outing. Though they may have recency on their side, each contender would need to take a significant step forward to match Sierra Leone’s late 3-year-old form.

“(Sierra Leone) is a very classy horse,” Brown said. “Very intelligent and just a real pleasure to be around. Overall he’s a very rare horse. Great mover on the track. Tons of ability. Very much a leader of the pack kind of horse. When you go to the track, everybody is going to fall behind him. He has a bit of an aura around him. I feel very fortunate that me and my team have this horse in our barn.”

In his final two preparations at Payson Park, Sierra Leone worked in company. On March 15, he was with Unmatched Wisdom; the week prior, with Spirit of St Louis. Known for producing a tremendous late run, in both works the 3-year-old champ was placed inside his stablemate, successfully fighting off their bids to get by and surging lengths clear in the later stages of the breeze.

“It’s not that I have been trying to use him as a lead horse necessarily,” Brown said. “The inside of the track at Payson is tighter. The two and three paths have been a little deeper. I prefer to have him on what I deem to be the slightly better part of the racetrack. The horses that are next to him are there to keep him interested, and we rotate every week who he works with.”

The New Orleans Classic is scheduled as race 9 on Saturday.

No conditioner has more titles in the $300,000 Muniz Memorial presented by Horse Racing Nation (G2) than Brown. After scoring with Casino Host in 2012 and Bricks and Mortar in 2019, Brown earned his record holding third Muniz title last year with I’m Very Busy.

On Saturday, Brown has two entries, equally dangerous, but after winning the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) at Gulfstream Park, Spirit of St Louis was deservedly tabbed as the 3-1 morning line favorite in the Muniz.

The Muniz is run at 1 1/8 miles on the turf, a distance which Spirit of St Louis has only attempted twice from 14 starts, winning both including the Pegasus.

”I think that since he’s gotten older he has a little bit more range than I initially thought,” Brown said. “I always felt that shorter was better for him because of the stronger pace. I always thought he was more effective doing that as I was developing him. But he really got out to one mile and an eighth last time (in the Pegasus) and did it well to win. I love where the Muniz is on the schedule. It’s a nice race to participate in every year with going up to Churchill after this (to run in the Grade One Turf Classic Stakes). So we’re going to continue on with this distance for the next couple races.”

Redistricting (GB) enters the Muniz lightly-raced and looking for his third career win. After starting four times as a 3-year-old, eleven months passed before the son of Kingman returning to the races. Sent off as the favorite in each of his two 4-year-old starts, Redistricting ran second in both the Knickerbocker (G3) at Belmont and the Seabiscuit (G3) at Del Mar. Four months since his last start, Redistricting will begin his 5-year-old campaign on Saturday.

”He looks good,” Brown said. “I’m excited to get him back on track and get his season going. I think he has got a lot of potential. A couple little minor things (since his last start), but he always stayed in our barn. He’s back on track.”

Delahaye got it done for Brown last year in the $150,000 Tom Benson Memorial. This year’s entry, Fun With Flags (Ire), will be making her second North American start but her first for Brown. After winning her first three starts and placing in the Prix Cleopatre (G3), Fun With Flags was sold and brought to the states for the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1) where she ran last of nine.

“She came in over the winter at some point,” Brown said. “She’s worked fine. A nice looking filly. She ran off the plane last time (in the Belmont Oaks) and had a few issues exiting that race. Needed a little bit of time. I’m optimistic about her season coming up. I think this is a good starting point. I wouldn’t be surprised if she won. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ran well but needed one to be at her best for the next race, so I’ll be curious to see.”

If last year’s local success is any indication of what will unfold on Saturday, no one should be surprised if Brown, who plans to be in attendance, makes multiple trips to Fair Grounds’ winner’s circle.

Slated as race 8, the Tom Benson kicks off all All Stakes Late Pick 5 with an estimated $1 million Pool. Saturday’s finale is the $1 million TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2). The last stop on the local Road to the Kentucky Derby will award 100-50-25-15-10 qualifying points to the top five finishers.

First post on Louisiana Derby Day is set for noon CT.

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About Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots

Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, one of the nation’s oldest racetracks, has been in operation since 1872. Located in New Orleans, La, Fair Grounds, which is owned by Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN), also operates a slot-machine gaming facility and 15 off-track betting parlors throughout Southeast Louisiana. The 153rd Thoroughbred Racing Season–highlighted by the 112th running of the Louisiana Derby–will run from Nov. 22, 2024 through March 23, 2025. More information is available online at www.fgno.com.