Barretts Kicks off Juvenile Sales Season
by Jessica Martini
The juvenile sales season, which will feature a markedly different landscape in 2015, kicks off Monday afternoon with the Barretts Select 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale in Pomona, California. The auction will be the last to be held at the Hinds Pavilion at Fairplex, with Barretts set to move to Del Mar for its May sale.
Of the 116 juveniles catalogued for the Barretts sale, only 69 breezed during the under-tack show last Friday. Still, buyers on hand Sunday morning said they were impressed with the horses who did work.
“I don’t look at horses until after they work,” said bloodstock agent Pete Bradley. “And after Friday, my short list had 35 horses.”
Bloodstock agent Hubert Guy agreed. “For how few horses worked, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many good works,” Guy said.
Steve Venosa, whose SGV Thoroughbreds consigned last year’s $1.15-million sale topper, admitted the move away from Pomona is bittersweet, but he is expecting a strong market at Barretts Monday.
“I have some really good memories out here at Barretts and it’s really a shame to see them moving from this location,” Venosa said. “I remember coming out here and seeing every stall full and now, this sale, there are only a handful of horses. But there are really good horses out here. And it seems like everyone is out here to support the sale and that’s exciting to see.”
Consignor Eddie Woods has been impressed with the action in the Fairplex barn area since Friday’s breeze show.
“I’m very pleased with the crowd that has shown up here the last day and a half,” Woods said Sunday morning. “This is a scary place, it always has been. A lot of stuff gets done at the last minute. [Potential buyers] have been here doing their work earlier than usual and I hope they don’t disappoint us and not show up when the dance begins.”
Becky Thomas of Sequel Bloodstock expects the trend of a polarized market to continue.
“I think we are going to see more of the same, not just what we’ve seen in the 2-year-old market, but also what you are seeing in the mixed bloodstock,” Thomas said. “The quality really is rewarded, and there is not just the level of buyer for those horses that are deemed as open. I’d like to say that we’re going to see a broader market-base because people need horses and that would be so exciting for us to see, but we do expect to see more of the focus on the top offerings. Hopefully it spreads out a little bit.”
In addition to Barretts’s move to Del Mar, Fasig-Tipton’s Florida sale will be held at Gulfstream Park after two years at Palm Meadows and a year at Adena Springs South. Meanwhile, the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s March Sale has jettisoned its select status in favor of an expanded catalogue and Keeneland has cancelled its April Sale.
Consignors are casting a wary eye on the list of upcoming changes.
“We’ve got a couple changes going on, which is always scary,” admitted Woods. “Losing this place is still a little bit of an issue because it’s another outlet we’re losing. Even though we’re still going to go to Del Mar, that’s another new issue. We’ve lost Keeneland. I’m an OBS shareholder and board director, but I’m still a large consignor and I need outlets to sell my product.”
Woods estimated about 80 to 85% of his 2-year-olds will be sold at OBS this year.
Of the impending changes, Venosa said, “Coming to the upcoming sales, we have a different venue with Gulfstream and with OBS expanding March, there are a lot of changes, but sometimes change is good. We’ll see how it goes.”
Bidding at the Barretts Selected Sale gets underway at 2 p.m. PT.