Candy Ride Colt Tops Barretts Sale

Kaleem Shah successfully bid $290,000 for a son of Candy Ride   at the Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age, and immediately pointed to his 20-year-old daughter, Sophie.

"She bought the horse," Shah said, grinning, shortly after he signed Sophie's name to the sales slip.

Bob Baffert usually buys horses for the owner, and Shah said the trainer was watching the sale closely on video. The May 27 sale at Del Mar ran concurrently with an afternoon of racing at Santa Anita Park about 100 miles to the north.

John Stephens' Stephens Thoroughbreds consigned the sale topper, who is out of stakes winner She's Sensational, by Point Given  . Baffert trained Point Given, the 2001 Horse of the Year.

"Bob liked the horse very much," Shah said.

Breeder Farm III Enterprises bred the Candy Ride colt in Florida. He sold for $140,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September yearling sale and went through the 2016 Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s April 2-year-old sale as a $245,000 RNA.

"Candy Ride did so well out here that we thought it would be a good spot for him," Stephens said. "We're excited about where he's going."

The Candy Ride colt was one of 63 2-year-olds sold for an average of $41,229 and gross of $2,597,400. The sale also included three horses of racing age, for a total gross of $2,613,900. In 2015, 92 2-year-olds averaged $45,641. The buy-back rate was 40%, with 42 of the 105 through the ring not sold.

"We had a great crowd," said Kim Lloyd, general manager of Barretts. "The horses that were marketable sold well, but I was surprised at the buy-backs. Even though we didn't have the sale on a preferred date, we still had people show up."

While many in the catalog were pinhooks, Mike and Patricia Harrington did well with homebreds. They consigned four through Andy Havens' Havens Bloodstock Agency, including Milton Freewater, the second-highest price at $250,000.

Dennis O'Neill bought Milton Freewater, a son of Creative Cause  —Lovehi, by Swiss Yodeler, who broke his maiden April 22 at Los Alamitos Race Course. O'Neill said he purchased the colt for Danny Kramer and Sol Kumin.

"They are both big fans of Creative Cause," O'Neill said.

Patricia Harrington said that Milton Freewater "is the first horse I've sold." Mike Harrington trained Creative Cause and Swiss Yodeler for Heinz Steinmann. The Harringtons bred Lovehi, and Patricia trained the stakes-placed mare.

The Harringtons also sold Creative Cowboy, a Cal-bred son of Creative Cause out of Harrington trainee Belle Michelle, for $20,000. Their other two offerings are by graded stakes-placed Empire Way  , trained by Harrington for Steinmann. Mr Ability, a Kentucky-bred son of the Swiss Yodeler mare Neeko, has also already won and sold for $75,000. Cal-bred Best, out of the Swiss Yodeler mare Helen's Echo, brought $87,000.