Barretts Begins Del Mar Stint Today
by J.M. Severni
The Barretts May 2-Year-Olds in Training and Horses of Racing Age Sale will make its Del Mar debut today at 1:00 p.m. local time. The sale, which was held in Pomona, California previously, features a catalogue of 151 head. Last year’s edition, which saw 70 horses sell for an average of $43,307, was topped by Long Hot Summer (Street Boss), a $260,000 purchase that went on to take the Generous Portion S. at Del Mar for Anthony Fanticola and Joseph Scardino.
Barretts Sales General Manager Kim Lloyd is optimistic about the auction and believes the transition to Del Mar will prove a positive one.
“We feel like being at Del Mar is an opportunity to grow our sales out here,” Lloyd explained. “There’s no finer destination in America than coming to Del Mar, and with the racing down here and the enthusiasm for racing with the big Summer meet coming up, has to help out sales. We expect big things from the change.”
The undertack show was held over Del Mar’s new dirt surface, which seemed to please both Lloyd and consignors.
“We had a great crowd Tuesday,” Lloyd said. “We expected a lot of people to come because Del Mar is a destination, but it exceeded expectations. The new dirt track here at Del Mar was very good, very fair, and it played the same all day long. Everybody was really happy with that, too, and the horses seemed to come back very well. There was a lot of traffic at the barns, so we expect a good result. We’re very pleased to get our inaugural 2-year-old sale off to such a good start.”
Becky Thomas of Sequel Bloodstock was also receptive to the new location and track, which was just recently installed in place of Del Mar’s previous Polytrack surface. Six horses shared the co-fastest eighth-mile work in :10 flat work in hip 30, hip 78, hip 127, hip 146, hip 151 and hip 155. Hip 65, a colt by JP’s Gust, covered the fastest quarter in :21 3/5.
“Love the track,” Thomas offered. “Absolutely love the track. The horses came back great. I watched the whole breeze show and they were really getting a hold of it. I was very happy with the track. There were more people in the stands than I had seen in many years out here, so that was pretty exciting. Whether that translates into buyers remains to be seen, but the previews was well attended by trainers, so I am hoping this gives us an opportunity to continue our West Coast sales at a higher level and expand our buyer base.”
Bruno De Berdt of Excel Bloodstock had a similar sentiment.
“There’s a few things that need to be tweaked–we’re dealing with a lot of outside obstacles we’re having to get through,” De Berdt commented. “The fact that the sale sits right on top of the Del Mar meet is great. It’s a nice place to be and we’re having a great reception here. I love the new track, I think they’ve done a great job. It was a little bit deeper during the week, but it was very nice Tuesday, very consistent and very safe. What I liked about it was that it separated the horses. Not everyone was going :10 1/5, :10 2/5, :10 3/5, they were all over the page as far as time. You’re able to pick the better horses out easier.”
Thomas thought the new location might help the market at the sale as well.
“Del Mar is awesome,” she said. “There’s a lot of wealthy people here, so I’m hoping we can draw from that and some of them will decide to become new horses owners here. The weather hasn’t been the best because it’s been unseasonably cold, but it’s a beautiful place here.”
De Berdt expects a solid market for the sale and is optimistic about the traffic around the barns.
“I think it should be a strong market,” De Bert noted. “I think people are looking for horses and there’s enough people shopping here that I would be disappointed if we didn’t have a good sale.”
Lloyd concluded, “We’re glad to be here and looking forward to the future here at Del Mar. We appreciate everyone at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club for all their assistance in helping us get this off the ground, and we’re on our way.”