Bricks n balls 116
Returning in the Grade 1 in the Old Forester Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve undercard at Churchill Downs, Brick and Mortar returned to his normal running style, racing farther back in midpack as Markitoff set the pace in front. The pair battled to the finish line with Bricks and Mortar prevailing by a nose over the 62.60-to-1 shot. Closer than he had been in all but one of his career victories, he had to fight hard to take the lead from Markitoff, who wasn’t going to give up easily. Making his first start at the New Orleans track, Bricks and Mortar was keen to run and Ortiz had to spend a few furlongs convincing him to relax with the horse unwilling to rate farther back than second. The closest victory of his career came one start later, when he shipped to Fair Grounds for the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial Handicap. He took over the lead in the final furlong and pulled away to win by 2 ½ lengths to add an important Grade 1 victory to his résumé and improve his best Equibase Speed Figure to 120. By the time the field entered the stretch, Bricks and Mortar was right behind the leaders and making his move. Making his Grade 1 debut, Bricks and Mortar raced in midpack in the 1 3/16-mile Pegasus World Cup Turf with a confident Irad Ortiz, Jr. That victory was enough for owners Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence to purchase a $500,000 slot in the inaugural Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, a move that would pay off in spades.īricks and Mortar winning the Pegasus World Cup Turf. He recorded a 116 Equibase Speed Figure, 11 points better than his former best figure. Racing at one mile - a distance that is probably a tad too short for him - he closed from midpack to win by half a length. The break forced him to miss most of his 4-year-old season but it proved to be just what he needed to take the next step in his career.īricks and Mortar returned to the races last December and proved he was ready to run. He finished third by that same margin in the Grade 3 Hill Prince Stakes a month later.Īfter the Hill Prince loss, Bricks and Mortar had to take more than a year off due to injury. He suffered the first loss of his career in his fifth race when he went off as favorite for the first time in the Grade 3 Saranac Stakes and finished third by three-quarters of a length. The 5-year-old looked to be an extremely promising 3-year-old two years ago for trainer Chad Brown, winning his first four starts of 2017 including the Grade 2 Hall of Fame Stakes over future Grade 1 winner Yoshida. 10 and the first American-based horse this season to earn a spot in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf.Ī leading candidate for Horse of the Year honors, Bricks and Mortar has won his last six starts with five of those victories coming in 2019. In the second Getting to Know feature of the season we focus on Bricks and Mortar, winner of the Arlington Million Aug.
#Bricks n balls 116 full
As attention turns from the 3-year-old races to the Breeders’ Cup, the “Win and You’re In” season is in full gear with connections trying to get their horses an automatic berth into the two-day World Championships.