Bricks and Mortar

Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence’s even-money favorite Bricks and Mortar outdueled 50-1 longshot United by a head to win the 2019 Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf for 3-year-olds and up at Santa Anita Park, completing an undefeated season of six wins, which ultimately brought him the Horse of the Year title.

Trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., the 5-year-old Bricks and Mortar completed the mile and a half on a firm turf course in 2:24.73. The victory was the third of the weekend for Brown and Ortiz and the first in the Longines Turf. It is Brown’s 15th Breeders’ Cup victory and the eighth for Ortiz.

Acclimate set the pace in the 12-horse field with United tracking in third next to the rail and Bricks and Mortar a few lengths further back in mid-pack. Coming into the stretch, United cut the corner while Bricks and Mortar launched a six-wide move.

Those two burst clear of the pack at the sixteenth pole with Bricks and Mortar prevailing in the run to the finish line.

“This horse is remarkable,” said Brown. “This is the biggest win of my career, and the biggest for my team, for sure. He has a lot of guts. What an awesome horse.

“He needed every inch of the mile and a half. I was worried when he was in between horses. I talked to Irad and he said he was pulling the whole way so he gave him his head and let him get in the clear, and once he saw daylight he just went.”

Winning jockey Ortiz, was equally effusive about Bricks and Mortar. “This is a special horse.  He might be the best I’ve ever ridden. Today, he was a little keen with me, so we were closer to the pace than normal.  So, I just tried to get him to relax. When I asked him to run, I looked behind me and saw we were clear.  He saw that other horse in front of us and he fought all the way to the wire.  I knew it was very close, but I thought we won it. I’m so happy!” 

Bricks and Mortar, a dark bay or brown Kentucky-bred son of Giant’s Causeway out of the Ocean Crest mare Beyond the Waves. Bricks and Mortar connections picked up $2,200,000 for the victory and boosted his earnings to $7,085,650 with a record of 13-11-0-2, which included five Grade 1 victories at five different tracks in 2019. He won the Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park, the Old Forrester at Churchill Downs, the Manhattan at Belmont Park and the Arlington Million at Arlington International Race Course in August to go along with is Longines Turf score.  

Brown also paid tribute to his mentor, the late Bobby Frankel, Hall of Fame trainer, who won six Breeders’ Cup races.  Brown wrestled with the decision of not racing Bricks and Mortar for 13 weeks following his Arlington Million victory.

“I just reached down and talked to Bobby. I have to thank him, too. We found the knowledge. I wouldn’t be here right now without Bobby Frankel. He launched me and to get to a training fest like this, you have to go into his textbook and pull out bits and pieces that maybe he used in the past. It certainly helped me today.”

Bricks and Mortar was retired following the Breeders’ Cup and began standing stud in 2020 at Shadai Farm in Japan. He won the 2019 Eclipse Award for Champion Turf Male and Horse of the Year, joining other winners of Breeders’ Cup grass races, Kotashaan (1993) and Wise Dan (2012, 2013), as Horses of the Year.