The 155th running of the $1.25 million Travers Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday (Aug. 24), aka the “Midsummer Derby,” is considered the marquee race of the summer. A field of eight 3-year-olds was entered on Sunday. usracing.com is publishing profiles of the contenders.
2024 Travers Stakes Contenders: SIERRA LEONE
Sierra Leone was a $2.3 million yearling, and after only seven starts he’s earned all but $82,000 of his purchase price, a remarkable achievement. Yet as good as he’s been to his owners, he’s been poison lately for anyone who bet him to win.
Sierra Leone. NYRA Photo.
The handsome son of Gun Runner finished second by a nose in the Kentucky Derby, third in the Belmont Stakes as the 8-5 favorite and second at 4-5 last out in the Jim Dandy Stakes. While collecting $1.46 million for those three disappointments, he burned many millions more than that for his backers.
As a deep closer he’s always pace-dependent, and he compounds that built-in disadvantage by being his own worst enemy. Sierra Leone is as trouble prone as he is talented. He blew the Kentucky Derby by lugging in and leaning on Forever Young through the stretch. In the Belmont Stakes he recovered from a stumble at the start by taking the lead near the sixteenth pole, only to lug out four or five paths while shying from the whip. In his defense, the speed-favoring Saratoga track worked against him that day, but he still found another way to undercut himself.
After the Kentucky Derby, trainer Chad Brown replaced jockey Tyler Gaffalione with Flavien Prat. For the Belmont Stakes, he equipped the colt with a cage bit to provide more control for left-to-right steering. He lost the Belmont Stakes and Jim Dandy Stakes anyway.
As Brown said before the Belmont: “Some things with horses there’s no logical reason why they do the things they do.”
2024 Travers Stakes Odds and Post Positions: Sierra Leone
Betting advice: With speedsters Dornoch, Fierceness and Thorpedo Anna in the Travers Stakes, Sierra Leone should get the quick pace setup he needs. Then again, he couldn’t capitalize on that scenario in the Kentucky Derby or the Belmont Stakes. Stay away unless he’s 5-2 or better.
Post position: 2
Odds: 7-2
Jockey: Flavien Prat
Trainer: Chad Brown
Owners: Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Rocket Ship Racing and Peter Brant
Career record: 7-3-3-1
Career earnings: $2,218,000
Last race: Jim Dandy Stakes (2nd)
Top Equibase Speed Figure: 109
Pedigree: Gun Runner-Heavenly Love, by Malibu Moon
Color: Dark bay
Running style: Deep closer
Notes: Chad Brown grew up in Mechanicville, a small town 12 miles south of Saratoga Springs … Sierra Leone breezed a solo half-mile in 49 1/5 seconds Saturday over Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track. “Perfect,” Brown said. “I think he wants a mile and a quarter. It comes down to pace and how the track is playing.”
2024 Travers Stakes Odds
| 1 | Thorpedo Anna | 3-1 | Brian Hernandez | Kenny McPeek |
| 2 | Sierra Leone | 7-2 | Flavien Prat | Chad Brown. |
| 3 | Unmatched Wisdom | 8-1 | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | Chad Brown |
| 4 | Corporate Power | 15-1 | Javier Castellano | Shug McGaughey |
| 5 | Batten Down | 20-1 | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott |
| 6 | Honor Marie | 20-1 | Tyler Gaffalione | Whit Beckman |
| 7 | Dornoch | 5-2 | Luis Saez | Danny Gargan |
| 8 | Fierceness | 3-1 | John Velazquez | Todd Pletcher |