Booklet, Carson City 2-year-olds highlight Barretts sale

Last year, the Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training was led by a Red Bullet colt that sold for a record $2.5 million. Records also were set for gross ($10.5 million) and average ($52,573), and the sale equaled the record median ($27,000).

For Tuesday's one-day sale, Barretts president Gerald McMahon said he would be pleased to equal that average and median.

"One horse is always kind of aberration," he said of the Red Bullet colt, who was bought by Sheikh Mohammed. "I think that sale helped us to attract several really nice horses, but I don't think it changed the dynamics of the whole market. I don't expect to hit that, but it does put the May sale on the radar."

The sale, which begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Los Angeles County fairgrounds in Pomona, Calif., has a catalog of 406 horses. Withdrawals are likely to reduce that number significantly. Last year, 200 horses were listed as sold from 276 that went through the ring.

Among the horses in the sale are colts by Booklet, Carson City, and Deputy Wild Cat.

A Booklet colt, selling as Hip. No. 242 on Tuesday, is one of the few foals by the late stallion. He sold for $500,000 at the Keeneland September yearling sale last year, topping the Sept. 20 session. The Booklet colt was bought by pinhooker John Brocklebank and is offered as part of his B.C.3 Thoroughbreds consignment.

The first of two training preview sessions for Tuesday's sale was held Thursday, and it was for the juveniles in the first half of the catalog. Another training session was scheduled for Friday.

Thursday, a Carson City colt consigned by B.C.3 Thoroughbreds worked a quarter-mile in 20.40 seconds, the fastest in the history of the Barretts sale.

The colt is out of Mountaineer Park stakes winner Cherie Yvonne, who earned $120,316. The Carson City colt was bought back at the Barretts March sale of 2-year-olds in training for $110,000. He was purchased at the Keeneland September yearling sale by Sweet Water Stable for $105,000.

A three-furlong record of 33 seconds was set by a Deputy Wild Cat colt consigned by Murray Smith, agent. The colt, Hip No. 126, is part of the first crop of 2-year-olds by the sire. The colt was sold to California trainer Jeff Mullins at the Ocala Breeders' spring sale of 2-year-olds on April 24 for $150,000, according to sale company results.