Breeders' Cup Classic hero Sierra Leone to stand at Ashford Stud in 2026

Breeders' Cup Classic hero Sierra Leone will stand at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud in 2026 after his final start in this year's Classic at Del Mar next month. 

The son of Gun Runner was bred by Debby Oxley and sold to MV Magnier and White Birch Farm for $2.3 million at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale in 2022. 

Sent into training with Chad Brown, Sierra Leone was a winner on debut at two that November and he stepped up into Graded company the following month to finish a nose second in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes. 

He returned at three to land the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes and Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes before finishing a narrow second in the Kentucky Derby. Following placings in the Belmont Stakes, Jim Dandy Stakes and Travers Stakes, Sierra Leone claimed his own major title when getting the better of Fierceness in a thrilling Breeders' Cup Classic. 

This year the highly consistent colt won the Whitney Stakes and placed in his three other starts, including the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Ashford Stud’s Dermot Ryan said: “We’re incredibly excited to welcome Sierra Leone to Ashford for the coming season. When you hear someone like Chad Brown say that he is the best he has ever trained, it doesn’t get any better than that.

Like his sire Gun Runner, he won a Whitney and a Breeders’ Cup Classic, except he was able to take the Classic as a three-year-old. He has been a model of class and consistency; never running out of the first three in 13 starts. His dam won the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes at two and he is from an exceptional line of producers, with his first three dams all being Grade 1 fillies."

He added: "Our sport is becoming more and more global and we are continually looking to produce stallions who appeal to the international market. In Sierra Leone we have a stallion who hails from a family that has also produced elite performers like Japanese Horse of the Year Zeno Rob Roy and Japanese superstar, Forever Young. When you have a champion with a pedigree like Sierra Leone’s and an exceptional physical, you can’t wait to see what happens next."

Sierra Leone’s stud fee for 2026 will be announced in due course.

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