Vino Rosso and Bricks and Mortar star at Breeders’ Cup

Posted on by American Racehorse

The 2019 Breeders’ Cup was a memorable event at Santa Anita Park, as the home side dominated across the two days in California. The European horses could only produce one winner over the two days, which gives an indication of just how impressive the US horses performed. Two horses that really stood out with their performances were Vino Rosso and Bricks and Mortar, who both look horses to follow moving forward.

Vino Rosso put in a huge career best to land the Breeders’ Cup Classic by 4 1/4 lengths from the Bob Baffert trained McKinzie. The four year old is trained by Todd Pletcher and entered the race following being demoted to second in the Grade One Gold Cup Stakes at Belmont Park. Prior to this, he had also been beaten 6 1/2 lengths by McKinzie in the Grade One Whitney Stakes at Saratoga back in August. This gives a further indication of just how much improvement was made from the horse in this performance.

The victory in the Classic saw the horse improve from an RPR of 119 to 128 as he was driven to lead just over a furlong out. Vino Rosso then kept on powerfully to draw clear and win by just over four lengths under jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr. This was a hugely impressive performance, with a further 4 1/4 lengths back to the third placed Higher Power. If he can maintain this level of performance then he is a horse to follow moving forward and is going to take all the beating on each start. This victory was a good one for punters, who has been using the coral sign up offer to support him ante post for the race, following his impressive season going into the race.

Bricks and Mortar then landed the Breeders’ Cup Turf to continue his impressive winning run. He is a five year old and trained by Chad Brown and has now extended his career record to nine wins from eleven starts. Bricks and Mortar has also now won seven races in succession, with his last defeat coming back in 2017. He entered the recent Breeders’ Cup race following winning the Grade One Arlington Million impressively from the Aiden O’Brien trained Magic Wand.

Bricks and Mortar was made the general short priced favourite against the likes of Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck. He took a keen hold in midfield and was ridden from around two furlongs out. However, he stayed on powerfully to lead in the last 75 yards to hold on by a head from United. This was another impressive game performance from the horse, who continues to deliver on the track. He is another horse that is worth following moving forward as he just keeps winning.