What can $2.3 million buy you these days? A serious Kentucky Derby contender.  Sierra Leone, who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on Dec. 2 in the Remsen Stakes, his 2-year-old finale, took no prisoners Saturday in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, winning his 3-year-old debut by a half-length over Track Phantom.  Track Phantom had won the Gun Runner in December and the Lecomte in January and came into the Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star the leading 3-year-old at Fair Grounds. He broke sharply from post 11, made a comfortable lead and set a slow pace – and still Sierra Leone ran him down.  Ninth down the backstretch and still seventh at the quarter pole, Sierra Leone swung very wide, some 11 paths off the inside fence, after turning into the homestretch. The colt does not have a pretty way of going, but he is relentless, with great stamina and a long, tireless run that he sustained to the finish, surging past Track Phantom inside the final half-furlong, much the best.  :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. “When I called on him, he really exploded,” said Tyler Gaffalione, who rode Sierra Leone for the first time.   Chad Brown trains Sierra Leone for Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg, Rocket Ship Racing, and Peter Brant. Brown sent Zandon to finish third in the 2022 Risen Star before Zandon went on to win the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and finish third in the Kentucky Derby, and one would have to rate Sierra Leone a better chance to provide Brown, a surefire Hall of Famer, his first Derby win.  Sierra Leone earned a spot in the Derby with his Risen Star victory. He now tops Derby hopefuls with 55 of the qualifying points that determine who makes the Derby field, capped at 20 runners, earning 50 in the Risen Star to go with the five from his second-place finish in the Remsen Stakes. Track Phantom also will make the Derby, his points total at 55 with the 25 he earned Saturday. Catching Freedom, who turned in a solid performance to get third, 1 1/4 lengths behind Track Phantom, notched 15 points, while Resilience, who tracked Track Phantom’s slow pace and finished fourth in his first start out of the maiden ranks, got 10 points. Honor Marie, making his first start since winning the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 25, showed late spark to nab fifth, worth five points.  Coolmore connections – Magnier, Tabor, Smith, and Westerberg – and Brant’s White Birch Farm paid $2.3 million to acquire Sierra Leone at a Fasig-Tipton's select yearling sale at Saratoga in 2022. The colt, by Gun Runner out of Heavenly Love, by Malibu Moon, raced greenly in his career debut last fall but still won a one-turn Aqueduct mile. Connections moved him directly into the 1 1/8-mile Remsen in December, when Sierra Leone fell hopelessly far behind in the early going before a massive half-mile move propelled him to the lead in the final furlong. Hitting the front, Sierra Leone idled, and the pacesetter, the talented colt Dornoch, came back to win by a nose.   On the one hand, Sierra Leone had closed furiously and wide over an inside-speed-biased racing surface. On the other, the Remsen was his until he gave it back to Dornoch.  Brown took Sierra Leone to Florida and experimented with different bits and with blinkers, which Sierra Leone didn’t wear in his 2-year-old starts. Brown said he had two goals: Keeping Sierra Leone more engaged in the early stages and more focused at the end of the race. He settled on blinkers with a small cup - and got the result he wanted.  Sierra Leone broke ninth but was away decently, not falling out the back door like he had in the Remsen. That race was run over a wet track, and so was the Risen Star – somewhat surprisingly. Fair Grounds got roughly a quarter inch of rain Friday night into Saturday morning, but while no rain fell after about 9 a.m., the surface never dried Saturday and still was sloppy and sealed for the Risen Star. It also was playing fair, perhaps even slightly tilted toward outside closers, which worked in Sierra Leone’s favor.  Decidedly not in his favor was Track Phantom’s trip. Track Phantom looked no faster early than a couple other Risen Star starters, including his Steve Asmussen-trained stablemate Hall of Fame, but he broke sharply and made the lead without much trouble under Joel Rosario. The first quarter-mile went in a moderate 24.32, the half in a slow 49.67, and Track Phantom was having everything his own way. He turned for home one length in front and was up by two at the stretch call, but that was not enough. Track Phantom tried to fight back when Sierra Leone loomed but could not.  Sierra Leone was timed in 1:52.13 for the 1 1/8 miles and paid $7.40 as the tepid favorite. He earned a 90 Beyer Speed Figure. “I think the addition of blinkers helped him focus down the lane,” Gaffalione said. “I was hoping there’d be a little more speed. On form it looked like there would be. I was comfortable where I was.”  Catching Freedom got into a tight spot past the eighth pole while trying to close between horses and validated his last-start win in the Smarty Jones. Resilience took a nice step forward facing other winners for the first time, and after taking forever to push forward, Forever Marie found late stride, going his final furlong in 12.52. That was better than 10 other Risen Star runners, but Sierra Leone clocked 12.22.   Behind fifth-place Honor Marie came 223-1 shot Awesome Ruta, as highly touted Hall of Fame, the 7-2 third choice, faded to seventh after a good trip. He was followed home by Real Men Violin, Moonlight, Tizzy Indy, Cardinale, and Bee Dancer.  Brown, mainly based on the East Coast, won just his second race at Fair Grounds, and Sierra Leone, from Brown’s comments this week, is headed to the Blue Grass in April at Keeneland rather than the Louisiana Derby in late March at Fair Grounds. This trip to New Orleans served its purpose. Sierra Leone is a colt who lacks early speed but is making a beeline for the Kentucky Derby.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.