Del Mar Paddock Sale offers quality

Sunday’s Paddock Sale at Del Mar has a catalog ranging from graded stakes winners Ciao Bella Luna, Handsome Mike, and Heir Kitty to a claimer scheduled to run an hour before the sale.

As of early Friday afternoon, the 39-horse sale catalog featured runners ranging in ages from unraced 2-year-olds to a 6-year-old gelding. The sale starts shortly after the conclusion of Sunday’s 11-race program.

The sale is in its third year, conducted by Barretts Sales and Racing with Del Mar. Last year, 17 horses sold for $1,257,000 and an average of $73,941. In 2012, 25 horses sold for $933,000 and an average of $37,320.

The 2013 sale was led by Oscar Party, a 2012 stakes winner in Kentucky purchased for $510,000 by Deron Pearson. A 4-year-old filly, Oscar Party placed in two stakes in the second half of 2013, but is winless in six starts this year. She is expected to race at Del Mar in coming weeks.

On Sunday, fillies such as Heir Kitty and Ciao Bella Luna are certain to attract widespread interest.

Heir Kitty, 4, has won 4 of 18 starts and earned $421,272. She won the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita last December, and was fifth in the Grade 2 Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 12. Heir Kitty, who is by Wildcat Heir, is consigned by Steven Venosa, agent for owners David Bernsen and Paul Makin.

Ciao Bella Luna, 4, has won 4 of 14 starts and earned $284,110. She won the Grade 2 Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland in April 2013, and the Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint at Santa Anita earlier this year.

Ciao Bella Luna has not raced since finishing fifth in the Grade 3 Las Cienegas Stakes at Santa Anita in April.

Handsome Mike, 5, won the Grade 2 Pennsylvania Derby in 2012 and the Grade 3 Commonwealth Stakes in 2013, and was second in the American Flag Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 4.

Kim Lloyd, the general manager of Barretts Sales, said the format of Sunday’s sale is designed to emphasize immediate chances for buyers to run horses.

“We’re bringing the sale to the party,” he said. “The party is Del Mar.

“This is an opportunity to get new owners in the game. They can have action right away. There is a wide variety of price ranges.”

In one case, a filly will go from the racetrack, and possibly the winner’s circle, into the sales ring.

Boller Bomb, a 4-year-old filly by Unusual Heat, is entered in Sunday’s 10th race, for $40,000 claimers over a mile on turf. The race has a post time of approximately 6:30 p.m. Pacific. The sale is due to start about an hour later.

Trained by Peter Miller for Rockingham Ranch, Boller Bomb has won 5 of 23 starts and $214,128.

The sale has 15 2-year-olds, 10 unraced and five with experience. Call It Good (Hip No. 14) has not started. The colt is by Medaglia d’Oro and out of Grade 3 winner Collect Call, the dam of Grade 2 winner and young sire Old Fashioned.

Peradventure (Hip No. 27) was third in the W.L. Proctor Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 13. Peradventure is by Papa Clem.

“The 2-year-olds have worked and are fit,” Lloyd said. ”The criteria [for their inclusion in the sale] is they would be ready to run at Del Mar.”

The Paddock Sale at Del Mar will be streamed live at DRF Breeding.

To access an online catalog, click here.