Bricks and Mortar (USA)
March 2, 2014 – Living
Giant’s Causeway (USA) x Beyond the Waves (USA), by Ocean Crest (USA)
Family 21-a
March 2, 2014 – Living
Giant’s Causeway (USA) x Beyond the Waves (USA), by Ocean Crest (USA)
Family 21-a
One of the best runners sired by three-time American champion sire Giant’s Causeway, Bricks and Mortar combined rare consistency with outstanding talent. Had he not been sidelined for most of his 4-year-old season with injuries, he might have compiled an even more impressive record. Never defeated after his 3-year-old season (and never in a race in which he got a clean trip), he ended his career with seven straight wins, five of them at Grade 1 level, and earned American Horse of the Year honors as well as a title as American champion turf male. He is now at stud in Japan.
Race record
13 starts, 11 wins, 0 seconds, 2 thirds, US$7,085,360
2017:
2019:
Honors
Assessments
Rated at 122 pounds in the Intermediate category on the 2019 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 6 pounds below overall highweight Crystal Ocean (the European highweight older male in the 9.5-11 furlong and 11-14 furlong categories) but tops among American turf horses.
As an individual
A dark bay or brown horse, Bricks and Mortar preferred to come from off the pace and was a willing and determined finisher. He developed stringhalt (a neuromuscular condition causing abnormal flexion of the hock) late in his 3-year-old season and required surgery for that issue. His prognosis at that time gave him no more than a 50-50 chance of returning to racing, and he kept experiencing setbacks that kept him sidelined for a total of 14 months before he finally won an optional claimer at Gulfstream Park in December 2018. At age 5, he “did not want to get beat” according to trainer Chad Brown, who also said, “He knew where the wire was.”
As a stallion
Bricks and Mortar served his first season in Japan in 2020. As of November 14, 2025, he has sired four stakes winners.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Bricks and Mortar was bred by George Strawbridge Jr. A US$200,000 purchase from the 2015 Keeneland September yearling sale, he was owned by Klaravich Stables (Seth Klarman) and William H. Lawrence and was trained by Chad Brown. He was ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. throughout his championship season. His breeding rights were purchased by Shadai Farm in August 2019, just before his victory in the Arlington Million, and he left for Japan shortly after his Breeders’ Cup win.
Pedigree notes
Bricks and Mortar is inbred 3x3 to 1980 English and Irish champion 2-year-old male Storm Bird. He is a half brother to 2011 Glens Falls Stakes (USA-G3) winner Emerald Beech (by Maria’s Mon) and multiple restricted stakes winner Beyond Smart (by Smart Strike). He is also a half brother to Beyond Henry (by Henrythenavigator), who won two stakes races over hurdles in France.
Bricks and Mortar was produced from Beyond the Waves (by 1994 Del Mar Derby, USA-G2, winner Ocean Crest, by Storm Bird), who earned honors as the 2019 American Broodmare of the Year. She is a half sister to multiple listed stakes winner Seahawk Gold (by At the Threshold) and is also a half sister to Miss Excitement (by Rajab), dam of 2006 Ancient Title Breeders’ Cup Sprint (USA-G1) winner Bordonaro (by Memo) and multiple listed stakes winner Miss Empire (by Empire Maker). In addition, Beyond the Waves is a half sister to Excedius (by Seattle Dancer), dam of stakes winner Slamit (by Grand Slam) and the stakes-winning timber horse Delta Park (by Johannesberg).
Beyond the Waves and her siblings were produced from Excedent (by Exceller), a daughter of multiple stakes winner Broadway Lullaby (by Stage Door Johnny). Produced from the Olympia mare Little Blessing, Broadway Lullaby is a half sister to Greatest Blessing (by T. V. Lark), dam of 1984 Eclipse Stakes (CAN-G3) winner Ask Muhammad (by Al Hattab). She is also a half sister to Her Native (by Kanumera), second dam of 1994 Malibu Stakes winner Powis Castle and third dam of multiple Grade 1 winner and successful sire Pioneerof the Nile.
Books and media
Footage of Bricks and Mortar’s win in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Turf can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0KYZx74xAg.
Fun facts
Last updated: November 14, 2025
Race record
13 starts, 11 wins, 0 seconds, 2 thirds, US$7,085,360
2017:
- Won National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (USA-G2, 8.5FD, Saratoga)
- Won Manila Stakes (USA, 8FT, Belmont)
- 3rd Hill Prince Stakes (USA-G3, 9FT, Belmont)
- 3rd Saranac Stakes (USA-G3, 9FT, Saratoga)
2019:
- Won Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FT, Gulfstream Park)
- Won Old Forester Turf Classic Stakes (USA-G1, 9FT, Churchill Downs)
- Won Manhattan Stakes (USA-G1, 10FT, Belmont)
- Won Arlington Million Stakes (USA-G1, 10FT, Arlington Park)
- Won Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (USA-G1, 12FT, Santa Anita)
- Won Muniz Memorial Handicap (USA-G2, about 9FT, Fair Grounds)
Honors
- Eclipse Award, American Horse of the Year (2019)
- Eclipse Award, American champion turf male (2019)
- Secretariat Vox Populi Award (2019)
Assessments
Rated at 122 pounds in the Intermediate category on the 2019 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, 6 pounds below overall highweight Crystal Ocean (the European highweight older male in the 9.5-11 furlong and 11-14 furlong categories) but tops among American turf horses.
As an individual
A dark bay or brown horse, Bricks and Mortar preferred to come from off the pace and was a willing and determined finisher. He developed stringhalt (a neuromuscular condition causing abnormal flexion of the hock) late in his 3-year-old season and required surgery for that issue. His prognosis at that time gave him no more than a 50-50 chance of returning to racing, and he kept experiencing setbacks that kept him sidelined for a total of 14 months before he finally won an optional claimer at Gulfstream Park in December 2018. At age 5, he “did not want to get beat” according to trainer Chad Brown, who also said, “He knew where the wire was.”
As a stallion
Bricks and Mortar served his first season in Japan in 2020. As of November 14, 2025, he has sired four stakes winners.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Bricks and Mortar was bred by George Strawbridge Jr. A US$200,000 purchase from the 2015 Keeneland September yearling sale, he was owned by Klaravich Stables (Seth Klarman) and William H. Lawrence and was trained by Chad Brown. He was ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. throughout his championship season. His breeding rights were purchased by Shadai Farm in August 2019, just before his victory in the Arlington Million, and he left for Japan shortly after his Breeders’ Cup win.
Pedigree notes
Bricks and Mortar is inbred 3x3 to 1980 English and Irish champion 2-year-old male Storm Bird. He is a half brother to 2011 Glens Falls Stakes (USA-G3) winner Emerald Beech (by Maria’s Mon) and multiple restricted stakes winner Beyond Smart (by Smart Strike). He is also a half brother to Beyond Henry (by Henrythenavigator), who won two stakes races over hurdles in France.
Bricks and Mortar was produced from Beyond the Waves (by 1994 Del Mar Derby, USA-G2, winner Ocean Crest, by Storm Bird), who earned honors as the 2019 American Broodmare of the Year. She is a half sister to multiple listed stakes winner Seahawk Gold (by At the Threshold) and is also a half sister to Miss Excitement (by Rajab), dam of 2006 Ancient Title Breeders’ Cup Sprint (USA-G1) winner Bordonaro (by Memo) and multiple listed stakes winner Miss Empire (by Empire Maker). In addition, Beyond the Waves is a half sister to Excedius (by Seattle Dancer), dam of stakes winner Slamit (by Grand Slam) and the stakes-winning timber horse Delta Park (by Johannesberg).
Beyond the Waves and her siblings were produced from Excedent (by Exceller), a daughter of multiple stakes winner Broadway Lullaby (by Stage Door Johnny). Produced from the Olympia mare Little Blessing, Broadway Lullaby is a half sister to Greatest Blessing (by T. V. Lark), dam of 1984 Eclipse Stakes (CAN-G3) winner Ask Muhammad (by Al Hattab). She is also a half sister to Her Native (by Kanumera), second dam of 1994 Malibu Stakes winner Powis Castle and third dam of multiple Grade 1 winner and successful sire Pioneerof the Nile.
Books and media
Footage of Bricks and Mortar’s win in the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Turf can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0KYZx74xAg.
Fun facts
- Bricks and Mortar swept all 241 votes for his Eclipse Award in the turf male division.
- Bricks and Mortar’s Eclipse Awards served as a happy finale for the partnership of Seth Klaravich and William Lawrence. They had been racing horses together as a team since 2006 but sold their jointly owned racing stock in 2019 after Lawrence decided that he needed to pull back on his investments in horse racing. “To go out on top with the Horse of the Year is as good as it gets,” Lawrence said at the Eclipse Award ceremony.
- Bricks and Mortar is a fourth-generation descendant of two-time American Horse of the Year Secretariat, for whom the Secretariat Vox Populi Award was named. The award, which is decided by a public poll, honors the racehorse whose excellence and popularity most resounded with the general public and gained positive recognition for Thoroughbred racing during the calendar year.
Last updated: November 14, 2025