Bricks And Mortar the latest to cement influence of Giant's Causeway

For the second time in as many years on Saturday, the Manhattan Stakes on the loaded Belmont Stakes undercard fell to a horse bred by George Strawbridge.

That’s a fair achievement for a breeder in possession of a select number of broodmares in Europe and the US, and one made all the more creditable by the fact that it was in Strawbridge’s Augustin Stables’ colours that last year’s winner Spring Quality was campaigned.

While victory in the Manhattan Stakes wound up as the highlight of Spring Quality’s year, there is a sense that this year’s winner, Bricks And Mortar, is in the midst of a championship season. The five-year-old has been on something of a tear since returning off a long layoff for Chad Brown, racking up victories in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational, Muniz Memorial Handicap and Old Forester Turf Classic Stakes prior to the Manhattan, which he won easily from his Grade 1-winning stablemates Robert Bruce and Raging Bull.