by Jessica Martini
Barretts conducted its final breeze show at Fairplex Park Friday in Pomona against a backdrop of gray skies and temperatures in the 50s.
“Things are lining up very well–the track is perfect and the horses are breezing well,” reported Barretts General Manager Kim Lloyd. “It's our last go-around here in Pomona before we move to Del Mar and there is a lot of nostalgia, but in the same sense there is optimism going into the future with Del Mar. We are looking for that to open doors to a lot of opportunities. We are excited about the future, we've loved our run here for sure, but we are looking forward.”
A cast of regulars, including California trainers Bob Baffert, Dan Hendricks, Carla Gaines, Simon Callaghan, Bob Hess and Patrick Bianccone, assembled in the Fairplex grandstand for the breeze show. Also in attendance were bloodstock agents David Ingordo, Hubert Guy, Ben McElroy, Jamie McCalmont, Dennis O'Neill, Christina Jelm, Steve Young and Demi O'Byrne. Stonestreet owner Barbara Banke, along with John Moynihan, were also on hand.
“The same people are here that are here every year and we expect a really good sale to kick off the sales season,” Lloyd said. “Our horses are good, athletic horses and we are very pleased with them.”
The 2015 Barretts Select catalogue features 116 horses–down from 141 a year ago. Of those, only 69 breezed Friday.
“It is what it is,” Lloyd said of the slimmed down numbers. “Keeneland didn't put on a [juvenile] sale this year because they didn't get the numbers they needed. It is just part of the dynamics. We're going to sell what we have and sell them well and we expect it to go well.”
Three juveniles shared Friday's one-furlong bullet of :9 4/5. First to hit that mark was hip 41, a filly by Tale of the Cat out of Jill's Gem (Mineshaft), a daughter of multiple graded stakes placed Wilzada (Meadowlake). The juvenile is consigned to the sale by Becky Thomas's Sequel Bloodstock. Thomas purchased the filly for $75,000 at last year's Keeneland September sale.
“She is my fastest horse out here,” Thomas, sitting in the grandstand for the show, confirmed. “She is a tall, leggy stretchy Tale of the Cat. She is out of a mare by Mineshaft, so she has got a leg. You see a lot of Mineshaft with the leggier appearance. She's been in coast mode for the past three weeks.”
Of what attracted her to the filly as a yearling, Thomas said, “She has got the profile that I like. Obviously Tale of the Cat has gotten short, long, turf, dirt and he is very well respected. She is a taller, leggier kind of horse, so she is the kind of horse that I like.”
Sequel offered Cross the Line (Line of David) at last year's Barretts sale. An RNA in Pomona, the colt won the California Derby this term before finishing second in the GIII El Camino Real Derby.
“We try to bring really good horses out here,” Thomas said. “Even thought it's a small consignment, I try to make sure that what we have is quality.”
Thomas is pragmatic about the move to Del Mar, but certain about the field of potential buyers in California.
“We don't have any choice [about the move], but I think it's very very important that we have a sale on the west coast,” she said. “Regardless of whether we have 72 horses previewing today or 250, you still see the same faces. They all want to buy horses. They are here to buy horses–it's in their backyard. And I think it's important that we consider that. There are questions about the timing and about the surface at Del Mar, but pinhookers, in general, we have our horses prepared for hopefully whatever surface we're on.”
After a delay due to a tractor malfunction, hip 77 kicked off the show's third set with the day's second :9 4/5 breeze. The colt by Macho Uno is out of Encore (Storm Cat) and from the family of Cash Run, Shared Interest and Forestry. He is consigned to the sale by Eddie Woods and was purchased by W.D. North Thoroughbreds for $100,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July sale.
Just a few hips later, hip 116 equaled the :9 4/5 bullet time. Consigned by McCarthy Bloodstock, the bay filly is by Street Sense out of stakes winner Bold Angel (Cat Thief). She is from the family of Pine Bluff, Demons Begone and Fusaichi Pegasus.
With just three horses turning in quarter-mile drills Friday, hip 33 earned the fastest time of :21 1/5. Named Young Brian, the juvenile is by Hard Spun out of Glacier Peak (Pulpit). He is consigned by Eddie Woods.
The Barretts Select Sale will be held Monday in the Hinds Pavilion, with bidding scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m. CT.
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