Bricks and Mortar headlines list of Eclipse Award finalists

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Bricks and Mortar had a perfect 2019 record and might have a couple more trophies coming his way.

The leading money-winning horse in North America last year headlines the three Eclipse Award finalists for Horse of the Year, to be presented at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 23. Bricks and Mortar, Breeders’ Cup sprint winner Mitole and Maximum Security — the would-have-been winner of the Kentucky Derby — are the Horse of the Year contenders.

Bricks and Mortar went 6 for 6 last year, five of those wins coming in Grade 1 races, and won just over $6.7 million. Bricks and Mortar is also a finalist for Male Turf Horse of the Year, which he’s a lock to win.

“We’ve never had a Horse of the Year,” Bricks and Mortar trainer Chad Brown said late last year. “So if he’s fortunate enough to get that award and for his body of work and for what he’s overcome, all those things go into putting him right at the top as the best we have had.”

Brown is a finalist for top trainer; if he wins, he’ll join Laz Barrera, Todd Pletcher and Bobby Frankel as the only in Eclipse history to claim that trophy four consecutive times.

Bricks and Mortar didn’t race for more than a year because of a ligament problem that required complicated surgery. His road back to the track in December 2018 after a 15-month layoff wasn’t easy.

And really, none of his races since has been easy, either.

Bricks and Mortar rallied in the final strides to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf by a head over 51-1 shot United, which was fitting given how virtually all his races in 2019 were decided at the very end. He started the year with a 2-1/2 length win in the Pegasus World Cup Turf race at Gulfstream — and his next five races were decided by less than three lengths combined.

Mitole won six of seven starts, and Maximum Security won seven of nine starts. Maximum Security crossed the line first in the Kentucky Derby, only to be disqualified after stewards ruled that he interfered with several other horses as the lead pack turned for home at Churchill Downs.

Mitole is also a finalist for Older Dirt Male, and Maximum Security is the likely winner of the 3-year-old male trophy.

The full list of finalists:

Horse of the Year: Bricks and Mortar, Maximum Security, Mitole

2-Year-Old Male: Maxfield, Storm the Court, Structor

2-Year-Old Filly: Bast, British Idiom, Sharing

3-Year-Old Male: Code of Honor, Maximum Security, Omaha Beach

3-Year-Old Filly: Covfefe, Guarana, Serengeti Empress

Older Dirt Male: McKinzie, Mitole, Vino Rosso

Older Dirt Female: Blue Prize, Elate, Midnight Bisou

Male Sprinter: Imperial Hint, Mitole, World of Trouble

Female Sprinter: Belvoir Bay, Come Dancing, Covfefe

Male Turf Horse: Bricks and Mortar, Mo Forza, World of Trouble