Barretts sale sets records

POMONA, Calif. - Despite the absence of a seven-figure purchase, Tuesday's Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training produced a record gross of $11,331,300 and a record average of $62,604 for 181 horses sold at the one-day sale.

Last year, the sale topper was an auction record $2.5 million for a Red Bullet colt. Tuesday, the sale topper was a Sky Mesa colt purchased for $650,000 by Dennis and Michael Narlinger's JMJ Racing Stable from the consignment of Becky Thomas's Sequel Bloodstock.

The Sky Mesa colt brought the second-highest price in the history of the May sale.

Tuesday's gross increased 7 percent from last year, while the average was up 19 percent over the 2006 sale. The median fell 7 percent, from $27,000 in 2006 to $25,000 this year. The buybacks - horses that were not sold after going through the ring - rose from 27.5 percent to 31.7 percent.