Barrett Sales, which has conducted Thoroughbred auctions at Fairplex in Pomona since its inception in 1990, will shift its primary sales location to the Del Mar Fairgrounds starting in 2015.
Kim Lloyd, Barretts’ general manager, said a deal has been agreed to with representatives of the 22nd District Agricultural Association – the state arm that operates Del Mar Fairgrounds – to move Barretts’ operations south approximately 100 miles following the group’s final sale at Fairplex in February, 2015. He noted that while the location of the business will change, the ownership will remain with the Los Angeles County Fair Association at Fairplex.
Lloyd further indicated that the sales company will employ Del Mar’s covered, 100,000-square-foot Del Mar Arena, home to several major horse shows throughout the year, as their primary location for its sales. The facility offers seating for 3,500 with the floor capacity to hold an additional 5,000. Barretts also will conduct some of its sales in the paddock of the adjacent Del Mar racetrack, which sits on the 350-acre Del Mar Fairgrounds and now conducts annual race meetings in the summer and the fall.
“We’re delighted with this arrangement at Del Mar and look forward to the flexibility and new options it will afford us,” said Lloyd. “The new location is ideal for the industry as a whole. We’ve had a fine run in Pomona, but now we’re moving ahead.”
“Barretts will have new business offices in Del Mar and a satellite office in Arcadia, “Lloyd added, “and we expect to continue to provide the exceptional service and integrity that our sellers and buyers have come to expect of us.”
Tim Fennell, CEO of the Del Mar Fairgounds, said the facility welcomed the impending arrival of the Barretts group.
“Our mission statement notes an agricultural emphasis in all we do here,” said Fennell, “and Barretts and their horse sales are a natural fit. They go nicely alongside our world-class Thoroughbred race meetings and they come with a first-class reputation for doing good business. We look forward to a collaborative relationship with them.”
Barretts will conduct their final two sessions at Fairplex in 2015 with a January Mixed Sale on Monday, January 26, then the Barretts Select 2-Year-Old Sale on Monday, February 23.
Their first sale at Del Mar will be the May 2-Year-Old in Training Sale in the Arena on Wednesday, May 27. Next comes The July Paddock Sale on Sunday, July 19, the opening weekend of Del Mar’s summer race meeting. A Yearling Select Sale will follow in August in the Arena, then an Open Yearling Sale is scheduled for the same location in October.
Barretts has put a 2016 sales plan into place as follows: January Mixed Sale (Wed., Jan. 27); Barretts Select 2-Year-Old Sale (Wed., Feb. 25); May 2-Year-Old Training Sale (Wed., May 25); The July Paddock Sale (Sun., July 17); Yearling Select Sale (August), and Open Yearling Sale (October).
Joe Harper, president and CEO of Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, the entity that operates the race meetings at Del Mar, saw nothing but good around the arrival of Barretts on the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
“They’re a first-rate outfit and the best sales company in the west,” he said. “They mix nicely with what we do here and will add luster to the special horse environment that is promoted on these grounds. They are surely welcome.”
Del Mar’s upcoming 15-day race meet, dubbed the “Bing Crosby Season” as a salute to the track’s founder, will open next Friday, November 7 and continue through to November 30.
10/29/14 ###