This Breeders’ Cup Belongs to Bricks and Mortar

[Wandering Eyes]

Bricks and Mortar (Giant’s Causeway) may not be everyone’s version of a superstar. He is a grass horse and American racing still revolves around the glamour divisions, 3-year-old and older males on the dirt. He is not particularly flashy or charismatic. He beats the competition, but does not blow it away.

But you could not come away from this Breeders’ Cup without an immense appreciation for this horse, who won the GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf and will be a most deserving Horse of the Year.

One race earlier, the Breeders’ Cup served up a reminder of just how difficult it is for any horse to emerge from the afternoon unscathed. Few believed that Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) would lose the GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but she fell behind early and could not catch Blue Prize (Arg) (Pure Prize). It was more than just one defeat. It ended hopes that she would finish the year undefeated and knocked her out of the Horse of the Year competition.

Bricks and Mortar faced a similar scenario. Lose and his year would go down as an unfulfilling one. Win and he would be crowned the best in the sport.

He came through. Yes, he won the Turf by a mere head and the horse he beat, United (Giant’s Causeway) was 51-1. But what the chart says does not tell the real story. This was a race where Bricks and Mortar probably should have lost.

With the way the race was unfolding, he appeared to be in trouble. He was bottled up among horses and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. sensed that his mount was in trouble. Announcer Larry Collmus noted that Bricks and Mortar was “a little headstrong.”

“He was a little fresh,” Ortiz said. “He had not run since August at Arlington [in the GI Arlington Million]. He was keen the whole way. He was throwing his head. I didn’t panic.”

Ortiz didn’t find running room until the horses came out of the far turn. When he did, Bricks and Mortar did what he has done all year long. He understood the task at hand and did his job.

“He knows where the wire is,” Ortiz said.

It would be a sexier story if the Horse of the Year made some noise in the Triple Crown or won the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic in an explosive performance. That Bricks and Mortar ran only six times this year and will be Horse of the Year is a bit troubling, but one has no choice but to accept that a six-race campaign is about all you can expect from a good horse these days. What really matters is that this horse shows up every time, finished off his year unbeaten and “knows where the wire is.” No one else did what he did this year.

“After what you saw today with his victory and some other defeats I think it is a no-brainer,” trainer Chad Brown said of the race for Horse of the Year.

Mitole (Eskendereya) may get some votes, and he did have a terrific year, capped off by a win in the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint. But his Horse of the Year hopes were diminished considerably when he somehow didn’t show up in the GI Alfred Vandebilt H. at Saratoga. He was a distant third that day. Vino Rosso (Curlin) proved that he is the best older dirt male in the country when he won the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic, but his overall body of work, which includes three losses from six starts, does not compare to what Bricks and Mortar did this year.

When it mattered most, and despite a less than perfect trip, Bricks and Mortar did what he always seemed to do–win a big horse race. He was the only major horse to have a perfect season and he won the most important race of his career. This is a very good horse. This will be a worthy Horse of the Year.

Random Thoughts on an Interesting Day of Racing:

How good is Peter Miller? He finished 1-2 in the GI Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint as Belvoir Bay (GB) (Equiano {Fr}) won over stablemate Om (Munnings). That’s three straight years Miller has won this race. When it comes to turf sprinters, the trainer has no equal.

Chad Brown might have cost Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) an Eclipse Award as the nation’s outstanding grass mare. The Brown-trained Sistercharlie appeared to have the award wrapped up, but the race for that title opened up when she finished third in the GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Two races later, Brown won the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile with the 5-year-old mare Uni (GB) (More Than Ready). Both of Brown’s mares are 3 for 4 on the year. What separates them is that Uni is a Breeders’ Cup winner and Sistercharlie is not. Uni gets my vote.

Are the folks at Big Ass Fans, the sponsor of the GI Dirt Mile, ok with NBC continually referring to their product as “Big Fans.” dropping that one naughty word? The people at the peacock network need to lighten up.

Good for Jeff Bloom, the primary owner of Midnight Bisou. Prior to the start of yesterday’s races he announced that Midnight Bisou was being withdrawn from the Fasig-Tipton November Sale and will run again in 2020. She can sell at Fasig-Tipton next year. The sport needs stars like Midnight Bisou to stay in training and it’s refreshing to see an owner opt to race rather than breed.

A Sad Day for the TDN: This was not a fun day for anyone in the TDN family as it began with the news that TDN News and Features Editor Ben Massam passed away at the tragically young age of 31. It’s impossible to get up for something even as exciting as the Breeders’ Cup when you’re flattened by such terrible news.

Ben was special. He loved the sport with a passion that is unequaled, sadly, something that is hard to find among people in his age group. He was a tireless worker and never had a harsh word to say about anything or anyone. The world was a better place when he was healthy, upbeat and reporting each day to report on the sport he loved at a paper he loved.

 

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