Bricks and Mortar tops Brown trio in Turf Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Chad Brown would like to believe he’s destined to win the Kentucky Derby one day, but for now, the closest he’ll be able to come is the preceding race.

In fact, Brown is doing his level best to buddy up alongside the Derby by running three horses Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Old Forester Turf Classic, the traditional lead-in to the Run for the Roses. They are Bricks and Mortar, Raging Bull, and Ticonderoga.

“We’ve had the Old Forester in mind for all three for some time now,” said Brown, the reigning three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer whose fifth and most recent Derby starter Good Magic ran second last year to Justify.

Bricks and Mortar, the No. 1-rated horse in the latest NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll, surely will be favored with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard from post 12 in a field of 13 older turf horses in the 33rd running of the Old Forester. The 1 1/8-mile race most likely will be run over a yielding-to-soft turf course, given the forecast for wet weather.

Bricks and Mortar already has a huge year going after winning the $6.7 million Pegasus World Turf Cup over a soggy Gulfstream Park turf in January for Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence. The 5-year-old horse by Giant’s Causeway has earned Beyer Speed Figures of 102, 107, and 102 in his last three starts.

“He’s been terrific,” said Brown. “Now we’ve got him well rested and ready to roll again.”

Raging Bull, the likely second choice, could be set up for a big effort from post 2 after finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile last month at Keeneland in his first start since a powerful from-the-back triumph in the Hollywood Derby in December at Del Mar. Joel Rosario will be aboard as always.

“He is coming back on short rest, but we’d planned on doing that all along,” said Brown. “He got his first race of the season in the Maker’s and now we’ll get him going a little further. He really wants the mile and an eighth. He seems to have bounced out of the race well – it’s done him good, he’s moving forward.”

Ticonderoga (post 10, Javier Castellano), who figures to vie for third choice with Qurbaan and Synchrony, “is a horse we’ve always liked,” said Brown.

“He’s run some numbers in the past that make him very competitive here,” Brown said. “He runs well fresh, and I had it in my mind that if I could get him in that window of doing good again, we’d run here – and I think he’s there.”

As for the non-Brown faction, there’s plenty to choose from.

Qurbaan (post 1, Mike Smith), winner of the Bernard Baruch last summer at Saratoga in his North American debut, will race with blinkers on after finishing third in the Maker’s 46 for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

Synchrony (post 9, John Velazquez), a divisional standout in the Midwest the last couple of seasons for trainer Mike Stidham, will need to make up just a bit of ground after finishing third behind Bricks and Mortar in the March 23 Muniz Memorial at Fair Grounds in their common last start.

Markitoff (post 5, Manny Franco) was 62-1 when he took Bricks and Mortar to the brink in the Muniz and will be looking to show that effort was no fluke.

Clyde’s Image (post 6, Luis Saez) outran his 46-1 odds in a big way in the Maker’s 46 and also will be looking to prove himself worthy.

Next Shares (post 13, Drayden Van Dyke) romped to a 3 1/4-length victory last fall in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland and has proven he belongs with this type.

The balance of the lineup is Multiplier, Sabador, Prime Attraction, Breaking the Rules, and March to the Arch.

Initially known as the Early Times, then as the Woodford Reserve, the Old Forester is carded as the 11th of 14 Saturday races, with post time set for 5:25 p.m. Eastern. The race will be shown live on the NBC broadcast. Past winners include such greats as Lure (1993), English Channel (2006), and Wise Dan (2012-13).