Sierra Leone, winner of the Breeders' Cup Classic in November, won 3-year-old male honors at the Eclipse Awards on Thursday night. Horse of the Year was to be announced later in the evening. Trained by Ken McPeek,

After losing the Kentucky Derby (G1) by a nose, it figured that Sierra Leone's drive for the 3-year-old male championship would come down to the final furlong of America's richest dirt race.

Last year's GI Breeders' Cup Classic winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) worked four furlongs in :50.60 (40/53) for trainer Chad Brown at Payson Park Jan. 12, his second workout of the year.