Inaugural Pegasus World Cup Turf goes to Bricks and Mortar

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Despite having made only one start over the previous 16 months, Bricks and Mortar proved fit and ready to win North America’s richest turf race, rallying to a decisive 2 1/2-length victory over the Irish-bred filly Magic Wand to capture the inaugural running of the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf on a soggy Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

Bricks and Mortar won an allowance and optional claiming race here on Dec. 22 in his first start since finishing third behind Yoshida in the Grade 3 Hill Prince at Belmont Park on Oct. 7, 2017. A pair of physical setbacks following that effort nearly ended his racing career and ultimately led to his 14 1/2-month hiatus from the races.

With recently crowned Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard, Bricks and Mortar was reserved in midpack off a rapid pace set by Fahan Mura, one of three fillies in the 10-horse Pegasus Turf field. Bricks and Mortar dropped as far back as eighth position approaching the far turn before commencing his rally at that point, came three wide advancing boldly into the stretch, readily overtook Delta Prince near midstretch, and drove well clear under vigorous handling by Ortiz. Magic Wand angled inside for the stretch run and got up in the final yards to finish second, a neck in front of Delta Prince.

Yoshida trailed early and never menaced, finishing a disappointing sixth as the 2-1 favorite returning to the turf for the first time since August.

Bricks and Mortar is a 5-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway owned by the partnership of Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence and trained by three-time Eclipse Award winner Chad Brown. Racing for the first time over a yielding course, Bricks and Mortar completed 1 3/16 miles in 1:54.04 and returned $7.60 while earning a winner’s prize of $3 million.

“For a while I didn’t think I’d have a horse for this race, I’d been resting a lot of them, but [Bricks and Mortar] came in fresh and thanks to the owners, they were game enough to put up a big entry fee. And the horse just performed beautifully,” said Brown. “When you got into a race this big, you take a big gamble. And it paid off today.”

As was the case during his acceptance speech at Thursday’s Breeders’ Cup awards, Brown was generous with his praise for those who helped make Bricks and Mortar’s victory possible on Saturday.

“Irad rode him beautifully, my staff did an incredible job with him, Ian Brennan did a terrific job rehabbing him at Stonestreet, and Dr. Larry Bramlage worked on this horse about 16 months ago when it looked like he might have a career-ending injury, and he fixed him,” said Brown.

Brown said his biggest concern coming into the race was the yielding turf course.

“The wet course was a big unknown for me,” said Brown. “I couldn’t be sure how he’d handle it, and thankfully he did.”

Ortiz said he got a perfect trip while also crediting Brown for the job he did bringing Bricks and Mortar back following the long layoff.

“My horse put me in a good position and just held it together,” said Ortiz, who earlier in the day won both the Grade 3 W. L. McKnight aboard Zulu Alpha and the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint on the odds-on World of Trouble. “When I got him out, he exploded. The horse is good, but the trainer, we have to give him credit. He gave him some time off, brought him back, gave him one race, and had him ready for this race. That’s a lot of work. Not too many trainers can do that. He’s got a lot of good horses, but he’s really good, too.”

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens, whose Delta Prince finished third after briefly making the lead in early stretch, said “[Delta Prince] looked awfully tough turning for home, but that turf is soft and that was a good horse who won it, obviously. Our horse just got a little tired at the end to lose second, but we were really thrilled with his effort.”