Del Mar: Lakerville sets sights on Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint

DEL MAR, Calif. – The rapid ascension of Lakerville through allowance-class company has Madeline Auerbach and trainer Barry Abrams aiming high this fall.

Lakerville became the first two-time winner of the Del Mar meeting with a convincing victory in an optional claimer over five furlongs on turf Wednesday. He won an optional claimer over five furlongs on turf July 18, opening day of the meeting.

Those wins will lead to a start in the $85,000 Green Flash Handicap over five furlongs on turf Aug. 15, the meeting’s lone turf stakes for male sprinters.

“He’s a good horse,” Abrams said.

The Green Flash is the start of an expected series of stakes for Lakerville, a California-bred by top stallion Unusual Heat. Abrams would like to start the 4-year-old colt in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint over about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Nov. 3.

A prep race could be the $100,000 Eddie D. Stakes on the hillside turf course Sept. 28. The race was formerly known as the Morvich Handicap.

“After the Breeders’ Cup, I’ll stretch him out,” Abrams said.

Lakerville has made one start on the hillside, winning a maiden special weight race in his career debut last October. After winning an allowance race for California-breds at Hollywood Park last November, Lakerville did not start again until June 24, finishing second in an allowance race on turf at Betfair Hollywood Park.

The second-place finish is Lakerville’s only loss in his five-race career, which has resulted in earnings of $189,740.

Part of Lakerville’s success can be attributed to his running style. A closer, he tends to lag behind the runners and make a furious run through the final three furlongs.

“He doesn’t do a lot of running,” Auerbach said.

Such a style often does well on the hillside turf course.

$200K sale-topper at paddock sale

The paddock sale at Del Mar was held for the first time July 22 and is expected to become an annual event, according to organizers.

The evening sale’s final figures saw 26 horses sell for an average of $48,980. A 2-year-old filly named Fightin Mean Mad, a winner at Arlington Park in June, topped the sale for $200,000. She is a candidate for the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 8.

“It did what we wanted,” Barretts general manager Kim Lloyd said. “It exposed new people to the game. It’s something we can build on.

“We had horses at all levels. An hour before the sale, we had new people asking for credit.”

A majority of the 45 horses in the catalog had previously raced outside of California and are eligible for bonuses paid to new horses that run at the Del Mar meeting.

The sale was a joint effort between Barretts sales company, based in Pomona, Calif., and the Del Mar racetrack. It was the first sale to be held at the racetrack since a yearling sale in 2004.

The sale has the support of consignor Cash Asmussen, who sold eight horses for an average of $12,063.

“We’ll learn from it and see what we can do better,” he said. “If a few purchases come out of the sale and do well, the results will do the talking.”

Lloyd said that a similar event will be scheduled for 2013, with possibly a larger catalog.

McCann’s Mojave gets first winner

McCann’s Mojave, a multiple stakes winners who stands at Rancho San Miguel in San Miguel, Calif., was represented by his first American winner when Biltmore Boogie won a $25,000 claiming race for maidens at Santa Rosa on Wednesday.

Biltmore Boogie is owned and trained by Steve Specht, who trained McCann’s Mojave for Santa Anita publicity director Mike Willman.

McCann’s Mojave, 12, won 12 of 35 starts and $1,513,565. He stands for $3,000, live foal. His oldest foals are 2-year-olds.