Barretts plans Paddock Sale at Del Mar

The Barretts sale company and Del Mar racetrack will conduct a horses of racing age sale at the San Diego County racetrack on July 22, Barretts general manager Kim Lloyd said over the weekend.

Details of the Paddock Sale at Del Mar have yet to be finalized, Lloyd said. The event will be held after the final race on a Sunday evening and will feature 30 to 40 horses. The July 22 program is the first Sunday of the Del Mar meeting, which runs from July 18 through Sept. 5.

Lloyd said the sale will focus on horses from outside of California “that are race ready and will participate in the Del Mar meeting.”

“We want horses in all spectrums, not just stakes horses,” he said.

Last year, Del Mar and the Thoroughbred Owners of California implemented a plan to attract horses from out of state to race at that meeting. The program paid $1,000 to the owners of horses who had made their last starts outside of California and had not raced in the state within six months; and a 20 percent bonus to the owners of horses from out of state who earned prize money in overnight races in their first starts at Del Mar.

Del Mar racing secretary Tom Robbins said in an e-mail over the weekend that the program will continue this year.

Lloyd said the sale has the potential to attract new investors into the sport by being held at a popular track such as Del Mar after the races.

“It gives the horse racing public exposure to the horse auctions,” Lloyd said. “Hopefully, we can get some new owners buy a horse at auction and get them in the game.”

There has not been a Thoroughbred sale at Del Mar since 2004, when a yearling sale was conducted in the paddock. In the years prior to that, an annual yearling sale was conducted at a nearby horse park.

The Paddock Sale at Del Mar comes during a quiet time of the year for Barretts, which is based in Pomona. The company has 2-year-old sales in March and May, but does not have another event until a yearling sale in October.