By DRF.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 14, 2024) – Brickyard Ride, the blazingly fast California-bred who won eight stakes at Santa Anita including three graded races, has been retired at age 7.
Owned and bred by Sonny Pais and trained his entire career by Craig Lewis, Brickyard Ride is from the first crop by prominent California stallion Clubhouse Ride. Brickyard Ride won 13 races and $925,477 from 31 starts and retires as the leading earner by Clubhouse Ride, also trained by Lewis.
Brickyard Ride “did everything you could hope a horse could do,” Lewis said this week at Santa Anita. “He did enough for us. I’ve had some fast ones, but he obviously had some serious speed. He’s a tribute to Clubhouse Ride, and what a great stud he is.”
The unspecified injury Brickyard Ride sustained in a Jan. 25 workout might not be career-ending for a younger horse, but Pais and Lewis figured Brickyard Ride’s time had come.
“He’s 7, it would be silly to bring him back,” Lewis said.
:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.
Brickyard Ride’s final start was a runner-up finish behind The Chosen Vron in the California Cup Sprint on Jan. 13.
Brickyard Ride’s stakes wins included the Grade 2 San Carlos in 2021 and the Grade 3 Kona Gold in 2022 and 2023. His five California-bred stakes victories included the California Cup Sprint in 2021 and 2022, and Thor’s Echo in 2021. Although primarily a dirt sprinter, Brickyard Ride in 2022 won the Tiznow Stakes at a mile and the Sensational Star on the hillside turf course.
Few horses were as quick Brickyard Ride, who set the pace in 27 of 31 starts and routinely sped his first quarter-mile in 21 and change. Brickyard Ride is currently at a Bradbury layup facility near Santa Anita and is expected to begin stallion duty next year. Plans are pending.
For now, Lewis said Brickyard Ride “will get the rest of the year off, relax, and enjoy the rewards of being an outstanding racehorse.”