HOMEBRED BRICKYARD RIDE EMBARKS ON A STALLION CAREER
Alfred “Sonny” Pais likes Brickyard Ride’s credentials to be “a great stallion”
Horse racing has given Alfred “Sonny” Pais the ride of a lifetime.
Pais (pronounced Paze) made his money through income property investment, but horses were always where his heart is. That’s been true from the time he was a young man out of high school in the 1970s and helped train harness racers for his father, to the present day as a breeder of Thoroughbreds.
Beginning in the 1990s, Pais has had several successful California homebreds. His best has been the blazingly quick Brickyard Ride, a multiple graded stakes victor who won 13 of 31 races and earned $925,477. Retired from the track in 2024, the former sprinter is on a journey that is far from over, as Pais embarks on a stallion career for the statuesque chestnut son of Clubhouse Ride. Brickyard Ride is the all-time leading earner for his sire.
“I’m a senior citizen on the hustle,” remarked the loquacious Pais, now 72. Always a small breeder, he has grown his broodmare base to 12 as he looks to support Brickyard Ride, standing his second season at Rancho San Miguel in San Luis Obispo County. Pais wishes he could do more, but his resources are limited. As it is, he figures he could possess upwards of 40 horses by the time the stallion’s newest foals arrive this year.
“I’m not Paul Reddam, or somebody like him,” Pais said. In order to manage the influx, he’s sold percentages of most of the horses he has in training or getting ready to begin their racing careers. His strategy also includes breeding a couple of his better mares to Kentucky sires in order to bring top market value.
Brickyard Ride during his racing career won the Kona Gold twice
“I’m trying to stay afloat for as long as I can,” Pais said, “and Kentucky is where the action is.”
It’s not easy to establish a new stallion in California these days, Pais conceded, but in Brickyard Ride he feels he has a worthy candidate. He said he felt that way from the first time he saw the horse train. The impeccable chestnut stands 16.3 hands and has a strong Candy Ride pedigree through his sire, the popular Clubhouse Ride.
Sons of Candy Ride such as Gun Runner, Twirling Candy, and Vekoma have reached national prominence as stallions. Brickyard Ride is out of the multiple winner Brickyard Helen, by three-time grade I winner Southern Image.
With Brickyard Ride’s natural speed, Pais said, “He’s got the credentials to make a great stallion, if he gets the right mares.
“To be honest, he’s always been an alpha male. In his races, the only time he relaxed is when he was in front. If he wasn’t in front, he wouldn’t relax. In the races he lost, it was usually because of that.”
Pais remembers being with trainer Craig Lewis while watching Brickyard Ride work for the first time.
“After the work, I turned to Craig and asked him, ‘Have you ever seen anything like that?’ Craig said ‘nope.’ ”
Brickyard Ride, who raced from ages 2 to 7, was an eight-time stakes winner for Lewis, including the 2021 San Carlos Stakes (G2) and back-to-back editions of the Kona Gold Stakes (G3). His other stakes victories include two scores in the California Cup Sprint and the Sensational Star on the grass.
He covered 44 mares in his freshman season. His first foal was delivered Jan. 24 at Rancho San Miguel.
Pais and Lewis, who have been friends for at least 30 years, have partnered as breeders on Brickyard Ride’s 3-year-old full sibling King’s Ride. The colt has been working forwardly at Santa Anita and is nearing his debut.
Pais’ other top prospects this year include graded stakes winners Unrivaled Time, the California-bred winner of the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes (G3T) at Del Mar Nov. 30, and the Irish-bred Nitti, who was turned out following his victory in the storied San Juan Capistrano Stakes (G3T) in June. Both are trained by Leonard Powell. Cal-bred Curlin’s Kaos, another son of Clubhouse Ride and winner of the 2024 Real Good Deal Stakes in 2024, is also in training for Antonio Garcia following a lengthy absence.
When he first broke into Thoroughbred racing after 20 years in the harness business, Pais had part of some horses with Mike Orman and later connected with trainer Barry Abrams. Their Cal-bred gelding Burns, by Unusual Heat and bred by Pais and Madeline Auerbach, was owned in partnership with David Abrams. Burns won the 2011 La Jolla Handicap (G2T) at Del Mar, providing Pais with his first graded stakes win. However, Burns, later voted champion Cal-bred 3-year-old male that year, broke down in his next start, the Del Mar Derby (G2T).
“I loved that horse; I liked to hang out in his stall with him, he was that kind of horse,” Pais said. “But something went wrong and he took a bad step. That really hurt.”
Unrivaled Time, a son of Kentucky sire Not This Time out of Pais’ British-bred mare Margot Machance, by the Irish stallion Creachadoir, was named in honor of Wilt Chamberlain.
Pais, who has lived in Santa Monica for decades, played beach volleyball at Sorrento Beach’s sand courts and got to know the superstar center, who died of congestive heart failure in 1999 at the age of 63. Chamberlain, who ended his basketball career with the Lakers, loved volleyball and, like Pais, owned harness racers. One of his best was a pacer named Rivaltime.
“We were great friends for about 10 years,” Pais said. “There were a bunch of pro athletes that used to hang out there, guys like Bill Walton. Wilt always wanted to get into Thoroughbreds with Barry Abrams, but it never happened.
“The thing about Wilt was he never slept. And so sometimes he’d call me at 3 in the morning, and all he wanted to talk about was betting. But he was a great guy, and I really miss him.”
Pais and Peili Chen celebrate after Unrivaled Time wins Cecil B. DeMille Stakes
Originally from a small farming town near Vancouver, Canada, Pais still has a place in Santa Monica, where he lives with his partner of about 30 years, Peili Chen.
As for Unrivaled Time, Pais sold a half-interest in the bay colt to Dr. Vahe Melikyan (Innergy Racing Corp.), of Glendale, a newcomer to the game. Melikyan is also partners along with James Shenouda (Zephyr Racing) with Nitti, so his first two horses as a partner with Pais were stakes winners.
“Being by Not This Time, a hot stallion, I could have sold Unrivaled Time for quite a bit in Kentucky,” Pais said. “But at this stage of my life, I decided to race him myself instead. I think your gut (feeling) is very important. You put in the hours, and if you have a little common sense, you can get the right outcome.”