Bricks and Mortar Named Horse of the Year

Ever since he completed his first full year of training in 2008, trainer Chad Brown has managed to increase his earnings in each and every year.

He's found a way to overcome the loss of champions such as Lady Eli, Flintshire , and Good Magic .

Yet as he looks ahead in 2020, Brown realizes there's something missing from his stable that will not be easily replaced.

For all the joy that came with learning that his turf star Bricks and Mortar had been named 2019 Horse of the Year at the 49th annual Eclipse Awards dinner at Gulfstream Park, his appreciation for everything the son of Giant's Causeway accomplished was magnified by his understanding of how rare those feats are and how difficult it will be to replace his retired champion.

"Coming back here to Gulfstream on the one-year anniversary of Bricks and Mortar's win in the Pegasus, which started it all in 2019, you look at the stalls and there's a huge, huge void. Now that he's not here, you really appreciate his heart, determination, consistency, his will to win, and dependability. It's huge shoes to fill," Brown said. "You can go through thousands of horses to find one like him. When they are not there, you understand how special they are."

Now in Japan, preparing for a new life as a stallion, Bricks and Mortar received the biggest prize of all at the Jan. 23 Eclipse Awards in recognition of an undefeated season in which he dominated the distance turf division like few other American runners and became the first horse to win the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T) and earn Horse of the Year honors in the same year since Kotashaan in 1993.

Owned by Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence, Bricks and Mortar's 5-year-old season in 2019 saw him win all six of his starts—five of them grade 1 events—in a campaign that lasted from January through November and produced a glittering $6,723,650 in earnings.

Aside from being named Horse of the Year over his fellow finalists Maximum Security and Mitole , Bricks and Mortar was also voted champion turf male in a landslide.

"It's still a little surreal," Lawrence said. "I've been thinking about the last few months, and for both Seth and myself, he's the horse of a lifetime. I grew up near Saratoga and dreamed about owning a racehorse. So to have the best horse in the country, it's incredible and extremely gratifying."

Making matters even more gratifying is how Bricks and Mortar overcame what could easily have been a career-ending injury to give his owners and trainer their first Horse of the Year recipient.

Bought by agent Mike Ryan under the Oaks Bluff Partners pseudonym for $200,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale from the Stone Farm consignment, Bricks and Mortar won his first four starts. But after a third-place finish in the 2017 Hill Prince Stakes (G3T), he suffered a hock ailment described as stringhalt.

Over the course of the next 14 months, there were setbacks and surgery that raised questions about the horse's ability to race again. With the combination of the care Bricks and Mortar received both away from the racetrack and with Brown, along with the horse's heart and determination, Bricks and Mortar made it back to the races and captured a Dec. 22, 2018, allowance optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park.

In his next start, he kicked off 2019 with a bang, winning the inaugural $6,708,329 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T) at Gulfstream.

"We just wanted him to be healthy," Lawrence said. "We were fine if he didn't run again. So for him to come back better than ever and have the kind of year he had, it's great for the horse and the industry. It needs stories like this. To have a 12-month campaign and run the table, no one does that anymore. Chad did such a great job with him."

After the Pegasus came wins in the Muniz Memorial Handicap (G2T), Old Forester Turf Classic Stakes (G1T), Manhattan Stakes (G1T), and Arlington Million XXXVII Stakes (G1T), setting the stage for a test on the Turf at Santa Anita Park that held the key to becoming Horse of the Year.

An even-money favorite in the Turf, Bricks and Mortar was racing in a tricky spot between horses on the final turn, but jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. masterfully found a seam and pushed him to a head victory over United that gave the horse bred by George Strawbridge Jr. a perfect season—six wins at six tracks—and dazzling earnings in his final year of racing.

"When Bricks and Mortar came back, he was a different horse. He didn't want to get beat," Ortiz said about the champion who retired with 11 wins in 13 starts and earnings of $7,085,650. "He knew where the wire was and overcame everything. There's not too many around like him."

For Klarman and Lawrence, the Eclipse ceremonies served as a final act. With Lawrence wanting to pull back a bit on his investment in the sport, they reached a harmonious decision and recently sold the last of the horses they raced jointly. 

To end with a Horse of the Year trophy in their hands was something neither could have envisioned in 2006 when they formed their partnership.

"We had a great run the last three or four years, and to go out on top with the Horse of the Year is as good as it gets," Lawrence said.

"You never come into something like this expecting to have the Horse of the Year, and even when it happens, it still doesn't seem real. It's just amazing. Knowing how it ended, maybe we should have decided to wind things down a few years ago."