By Jessica Martini
Barretts held its first March Select 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale under-tack preview at Del Mar Monday, with six juveniles sharing the furlong bullet time of :9 4/5. Monday's breeze show was the second held at Del Mar following Barretts departure from its longtime home at Fairplex Park in Pomona last May.
“It's our second 2-year-old sale here and the preview is better attended here than they were in Pomona,” reported Barretts General Manager Kim Lloyd. “This has been a very well-attended breeze show.”
Held under overcast skies and temperatures in the low 60s, the breeze show attracted a strong cast of owners, bloodstock agent and trainers. Among those in attendance were prominent owner and local resident George Bolton, Eclipse Thoroughbreds' Aron Wellman and agents Alex Solis, Pete Bradley, Hubert Guy, Mersad Metanovic, John Moynihan, Dennis O'Neill, Jamie McCalmont and Emmanuel de Seroux. Southern California trainers were well-represented by the likes of Dan Hendricks, Phil d'Amato, Craig Dollase, Neil Drysdale, Peter Miller, Brian Koriner and Patrick Biancone.
Longtime California consignor Andy Havens of Havens Bloodstock was represented by a pair of workers to break the :10 mark. Hip 43, a filly by Good Journey, was the first from the consignment to work in :9 4/5. Out of Hay Whatsmaddau (Matty G), the chestnut is a California-bred half-sister to stakes placed Korban (Benchmark). The Havens-consigned hip 117, a daughter of Hat Trick (Jpn), also recorded the co-bullet furlong time. That youngster is the first foal out of Westside Singer (Gone West), a daughter of MGSP Zawzooth (Unbridled's Song).
“They are both really fast horses,” Havens said Monday afternoon. “They are not big pedigreed horses, but they are very fast and beautiful individuals.”
Asked if he expected the pair to share Monday's bullet time, Havens added, “They look fast and both of them are really sound. So it wasn't a complete surprise, but you just never know. Especially down here because there haven't been enough horses training over the track to know. We were delighted. My whole group did well.”
Havens said he has been particularly impressed with the Del Mar dirt surface, which was replaced just before Barretts hosted its inaugural May Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training at the oceanside oval last spring.
“The track was very fair,” Havens said. “The track has really turned into the perfect track for this kind of sale. It's very, very safe. The horses train over it and do great over it. It's really settled down–the track is only about a year old now. It's very consistent, very safe and very fast. We were on it in May when it was just a week old and it was nice, but it was slower and more inconsistent. And now it's gotten to be a real nice consistent surface.”
Bruno DeBerdt's Excel Bloodstock was also represented by a pair of :9 4/5 workers Monday: hip 33 is a filly from the first crop of GI Florida Derby winner Dialed In (Mineshaft); and hip 56 is a colt by Exchange Rate out of Lily Luna (Saarland).
A gray colt from the first crop of multiple Grade I winner The Factor (War Front) became the first to break through the :10 mark Monday. Hip 12 went in :9 4/5 as the first horse to work in the second of three sets. Consigned by Ciaran Dunne's Wavertree Stables, the juvenile is out of Broadway Lullaby (Songandaprayer), a half-sister to Grade I-placed Broken Spell (Broken Vow).
Rounding out the bullet works was hip 71, a chestnut colt by City Zip out of graded stakes placed My Rachel (Horse Chestnut {SAf}). Consigned by John Brocklebank as agent for Dickman Legacy Ranch, the juvenile is a half-brother to stakes placed Rachel's Ready (More Than Ready) and Firehouse Red (Arch).
Of the handful of juveniles to work a quarter-mile Monday, hip 30, a colt by Flatter, earned the bullet when he blitzed the two furlongs in :20 4/5. Consigned by Eddie Woods, the chestnut is out of Endless Sea (Mt. Livermore) and is a half-brother to multiple group placed Silver Ocean (Silver Train).
The inaugural Barretts March Select 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale at Del Mar will be held Wednesday, beginning at 2 p.m. PT.
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