Bricks and Mortar Constructs Winning Move in Pegasus Turf

HALLANDALE BEACH, FL.–Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence's Bricks and Mortar (Giant's Causeway) proved he is truly a force to be reckoned with in the older male turf division this year, unleashing a powerful late turn of foot to conquer the inaugural $7 million GI Pegasus World Cup Turf S. over a rain-soaked Gulfstream turf course Saturday.

Away well from the stalls, Bricks and Mortar settled on the fence in fifth, keeping a close eye on pacesetter Fahan Mura (English Channel), who was pushed along by Japanese invader Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofane) through opening splits of :22.94 and :47.93. Shuffled back to seventh as a pair of rivals made early moves up the outside, Bricks and Mortar held steady beneath a patient ride from Irad Ortiz, Jr. Popped the question as three-quarters went up in 1:11.60, the Chad Brown trainee tipped out two-wide, steadily picking off rivals with race favorite Yoshida

(Heart's Cry {Jpn}) close behind. Moving out another path in the lane, Bricks and Mortar kicked it into high gear, charging home to a decisive 2 1/2-length victory.

European invader Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) split horses in the final sixteenth to be second and Delta Prince (Street Cry {Ire}) rounded out the trifecta. Yoshida couldn't seem to get a hold of the wet course in the stretch and could only manage sixth.

“Irad rode him beautiful,” Brown said. “The horse came ready and handled the course. Everything worked out perfectly. For a little while there, I didn't think I'd have a horse for the race. I had been resting a lot of them. Bricks and Mortar came in fresh when I was resting other ones. Thanks to Seth [Klarman] and Bill [Lawrence], they were game enough to put up a big entry fee and give it a shot. The horse just performed beautifully.”

He continued, “Ian Brennan at Stonestreet Farm did a terrific job rehabbing this horse,” Brown said. “Dr. Larry Bramlage worked on this horse about 16 months ago when it looked like he might have a career-ending injury. He fixed him. There was a lot of teamwork, a lot of patience. When you go into a race this big take a big gamble–it paid off today.”

“I got a perfect trip,” Ortiz said. “My horse put me in a good position and just held it together, saving ground. When I got kicked him out, he exploded. The horse is good, but the trainer we have to get him credit. He gave him some time off and brought him back, give him one race in the allowance race and bring him back ready for this race. That's a lot of work. Not too many trainers can do that. He's got good horses, but he knows what he's doing, and he's really good, too.”

As for the beaten favorite Yoshida, trainer Bill Mott, who also conditions fifth-place finisher Channel Maker (English Channel), said, “The bottom line is [Yoshida] wasn't making up much ground on them from the eighth pole to the wire. I'm not going to give him a huge excuse. As it turns out, maybe Yoshida is going to be better on the dirt.”

The Hall of Famer continued, “[Channel Maker is] a little hard to handle sometimes and sometimes he'll try and run up on heels. But it looks like eventually he got him out and he had the clear length of the stretch to run them down and just couldn't do it.”

Winning owners Seth Klarman of Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence also campaign GI Cigar Mile victor Patternrecognition (Adios Charlie). Klarman is also the owner of undefeated GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine Newspaperofrecord (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), GI Test S. victress Separationofpowers (Candy Ride {Arg}) and GI Champagne S. winner Complexity (Maclean's Music).

Bricks and Mortar opened his account with four straight wins, starting with a debut graduation over the Gulfstream lawn in February 2017. Shelved for a bit following that effort, he returned a winner at Belmont that June and captured the Manila S. a month later. Defeating Yoshida by 3/4 of a length in Saratoga's GII Hall of Fame S. in August of 2017, the $200,000 KEESEP buy checked in third behind Grade I winner Voodoo Song (English Channel) and Yoshida next out in the GIII Saranac S. that September and filled the same spot in that term's GIII Hill Prince S. Sidelined for 14 months following that effort, Bricks and Mortar came back to winning form with a half-length optional claimer score going a mile here last time Dec. 22.

Pedigree Notes:

Bricks and Mortar is the 33rd Grade I/Group 1 winner for the late Coolmore stalwart Giant's Causeway. The winner is out of French stakes winner Beyond the Waves, who is graded/group stakes-placed in both France and America. She also produced MSW Beyond Smart (Smart Strike), GSW Emerald Beech (Maria's Mon), GSP Sir Ector (Dynaformer) and SP Water View (Petionville). Beyond the Waves is a half-sister to the dam of GISW Bordonaro (Memo {Chi}) and MSW & GISP Miss Empire (Empire Maker). The 22-year-old mare's youngest produce is a 3-year-old filly named Davida (Animal Kingdom) and she was bred to both Kitten's Joy and Runhappy last spring.

Saturday, Gulfstream Park
PEGASUS WORLD CUP TURF INVITATIONAL S.-GI, $6,708,329, Gulfstream, 1-26, 4yo/up, 1 3/16mT, 1:54.59, yl.
1–BRICKS AND MORTAR, 124, h, 5, by Giant's Causeway
                1st Dam: Beyond the Waves (SW & MGSP-Fr, GSP-US,
                                $187,752), by Ocean Crest
                2nd Dam: Excedent, by Exceller
                3rd Dam: Broadway Lullaby, by Stage Door Johnny
1ST GRADE I WIN. ($200,000 Ylg '15 KEESEP). O-Klaravich
Stables, Inc. & William Lawrence; B-George Strawbridge (KY);
T-Chad C. Brown; J-Irad Ortiz, Jr. $2,656,250. Lifetime Record:
8-6-0-2, $3,018,250. *1/2 to Emerald Beech (Maria's Mon),
GSW, $269,338; Sir Ector (Dynaformer), GSP-Ire, $345,311;
Beyond Smart (Smart Strike), MSW, $332,019. Werk Nick
   Rating: D. Click for eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Magic Wand (Ire), 112, f, 4, Galileo (Ire)–Prudenzia (Ire), by
Dansili (GB). (€1,400,000 Ylg '16 ARAUG). O-Michael Tabor,
Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier & Markus Jooste; B-Ecurie Des
Monceaux & Skymarc Farm Inc (IRE); T-Aidan P. O'Brien.
$796,875.
3–Delta Prince, 124, h, 6, Street Cry (Ire)–Delta Princess, by A.P.
Indy. 'TDN Rising Star' O-Stronach Stables; B-Adena Springs
(KY); T-James A. Jerkens. $575,521.
Margins: 2HF, NK, 1 3/4. Odds: 2.80, 9.40, 9.30.
Also Ran: Catapult, Channel Maker, Yoshida (Jpn), Next Shares, Dubby Dubbie, Aerolithe (Jpn), Fahan Mura. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.