Bricks and Mortar named U.S. Horse of the Year

Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Bricks and Mortar was named 2019 U.S. Horse of the Year in Eclipse Award ceremonies at Gulfstream Park Racetrack.

The honor, bestowed Thursday night, was unusual for a horse racing exclusively on the turf. Bricks and Mortar he carried with him honors to his entire team -- from breeder to rider.

His owners, Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables and William H. Lawrence, were honored as the year's best in that category. His breeder, George Strawbridge Jr., won in that category. His jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr., earned the Eclipse Award in his category, and his trainer, Chad Brown, bolstered by a barn full of Grade I winners, won an Eclipse Award, too.

Bricks and Mortar, a Kentucky-bred son of Giant's Causeway, won all six starts in 2019, at six different race tracks. He wound up the year defeating some of the world's best in the Grade I Longines Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita.

Now 6, he stands at stud at Teruya Yoshida's Shadai Farm in Japan.

Eclipse Award honors are decided by voters in three groups: Daily Racing Form, the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters of America and the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.

The winners:

Horse of the Year: Bricks and Mortar

Two-Year-Old Male: Storm the Court

Two-Year-Old Filly: British Idiom

Three-Year-Old Male: Maximum Security

Three-Year-Old Filly: Covfefe

Older Dirt Male: Vino Rosso

Older Dirt Female: Midnight Bisou

Male Sprinter: Mitole

Female Sprinter: Covfefe

Male Turf Horse: Bricks and Mortar

Female Turf Horse: Uni (GB)

Steeplechase Horse: Winston C (IRE)

Owner: Klaravich Stables Inc., and William H. Lawrence

Breeder: George Strawbridge, Jr.

Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr.

Apprentice Jockey: Kazushi Kimura

Trainer: Chad Brown