Bricks and Mortar the big dog in Muniz Memorial

The late Bobby Frankel had a fondness for the late Fair Grounds racing secretary Mervin Muniz. Frankel trained the best turf horses in America, and every March for several years he used to find one to send to Fair Grounds’s signature turf race, the Explosive Bid Handicap.

Chad Brown used his time employed by Frankel to launch his own training career. Now, Brown has the best turf horses in America, and he has sent one of them, Bricks and Mortar, to Fair Grounds for the Grade 2, $300,000 Muniz Memorial Handicap, as the Explosive Bid now is known.

The Muniz, at about 1 1/8 miles, has been somewhat down the last few seasons, but it is up this year, headed by Bricks and Mortar, the 2-1 morning-line favorite, the 125-pound highweight, and a last-out winner of the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational. In that race, Bricks and Mortar was 2 1/2 lengths better than the Aidan O’Brien-trained filly Magic Wand, with Delta Prince finishing third, and the Muniz has lured horses of comparable quality.

Synchrony, weighted at 123, has won all four of his Fair Grounds starts, including a decisive victory in the 2018 Muniz. The Fair Grounds grass course appeared to favor inside paths Feb. 16, when Synchrony last raced, but his wide stretch rally in the Fair Grounds Handicap still carried him to a comfortable win in his first start following a winter break.

“He’s breathing fire right now,” said Mike Stidham, who trains Synchrony for owner-breeder Pin Oak Stable. “He really thrives down there. We’re confident in our horse. Obviously, [Bricks and Mortar] is good this year. We got to hope the home-court advantage plays in our favor.”

Synchrony has gone off at odds of 17-10 or lower in five of his last six starts and, for the first time since last year’s Muniz, might offer real value. But can he beat Bricks and Mortar?

As a 3-year-old of 2017, Bricks and Mortar won four of six starts and ran strong races in his two defeats, but he was injured that fall and didn’t start for more than 14 months. Bricks and Mortar, by Giant’s Causeway, won his comeback race, an allowance prep for the Pegasus Turf, and was much the best with massive money on the line last out at Gulfstream.

“He wasn’t right – had a couple different things – and we had to wait on him,” said Brown, who won the 2012 Muniz with Casino Host. “It took him a while to get there, but he’s doing good now, and I’m really happy with him.”

Bricks and Mortar, with Irad Ortiz riding, takes a patient approach to racing, rating in midpack or farther behind before unleashing an elite burst of speed.

“He can place himself anywhere, he settles nicely, and he’s got a great turn of foot,” Brown said. “It gives the jockey a lot of options.”

Brown said he’s using the Muniz, a rare New Orleans start for his stable, as a stepping-stone to the Grade 1 Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard. That’s not to say Bricks and Mortar won’t contend, because it’d be shocking if he didn’t, but this middle-ground spot between major goals might be the right time to take him on.

Synchrony is the obvious alternative, but Inspector Lynley and Divisidero are playable, too. That pair finished one-two Feb. 9 in the Tampa Bay Stakes, though the 1 1/16-mile distance of that race might suit Inspector Lynley better than the Muniz’s 1 1/8 miles. Divisidero defeated Synchrony going 1 3/16 miles in the Arlington Handicap last summer, but Synchrony has run his very best races in New Orleans.

Silver Dust was entered in the Muniz in case the race is rained onto dirt; that’s not happening, so Silver Dust will be scratched to run in the New Orleans Handicap. That’s also expected to be the case with Muniz entrant Bandua. Hot Springs, First Premio, Markitoff, and Final Copy all have strengths, but they’re unfortunate to wind up in an unusually strong renewal of the Muniz.