Horsey set seeks out the auction: affluent go shopping for potential Kentucky Derby winners at a Pomona sale.

Horsey set seeks out the auction

Los Angeles is known for many things, like traffic, sunshine and Hollywood. But it's not known for its horse industry, which is usually associated with places like Lexington or Louisville, Ky.

Yes, there are Santa Anita and Hollywood Park but out in the far corner of Los Angeles County in Pomona there is a place where people come from all over North America and Europe to buy and sell horses.

This is not a place for the railbirds who go to the track and place a bet or two. This is a place for the moneyed people of the sport, industry or addiction, depending on your point of view. But to be sure, these folks, despite their fancy cars and seemingly thick wallets, are horse people, too, just like the guy who puts a few dollars down on a horse to show.

Last week many of the movers and shakers of the race horse business gathered at the Barretts Equine Sales facility for what the company calls its "showcase" event of the year, a two-day auction of two-year-old thoroughbreds. The sale is one of five held throughout the year by Barretts, a private company that brings horse sellers and buyers together.

The company is owned by Fairplex, operator of the Pomona fairgrounds complex, and Fred Sahadi, the California real estate developer and horse maven.

"What we're looking for here is a Magic Johnson. We're looking for a horse to win the Kentucky Derby," said Hector Palma of Arcadia, a trainer who along with his wife, Becky, owns 10 race horses and was looking to buy one or two more.

Palma said he once paid $135,000 for a horse.

Willie Shoemaker, the famous jockey who lives in San Marino, was at the auction looking for a horse. He summed up the event, and the sport, this way: "You try to pick the right one."

There were all kinds of people at the auction and they basically had two things in common: money and horses. During the first day of the auction, they spent $6.9 million on horses for an average price of $72,947. At last year's sale, one horse went for $700,000. Barretts makes its money on a 5 percent sales commission.

There was valet parking at the auction for those who arrived in Rolls Royces or more mainstream vehicles like Mercedes. There were the beautiful women who seem to be part of the horse crowd. There were old-timers there who looked like they had spent years out on the range and there were the elite of the sport-business.

A couple of those people included Wayne Lukas, a recent Kentucky Derby winner, and Jack Vanberg, who owns horses and runs farms in California and Kentucky. Ask horse people who those two are and they should be able to tell you, said the horse people at the auction.

But there were some horse-people-wannabes there, too. People like rapper MC Hammer, who bought two horses under his manager's name, said Barretts General Manager Gerald McMahon.

Other famous or semi-famous people who have bought horses at the auction include financier R.D. Hubbard, who recently won control of Hollywood Park, and entertainment-industry executives Albert Broccoli, producer of James Bond films, and Jerry Moss, co-founder of A&M Records. McMahon said sometimes famous people may buy horses under different names.

Some people came from faraway and exotic places, like New Jersey, to sell and/or buy horses at the show.

Joseph Demiero of Cherry Hill, N.J., said he spent $2,500 to fly one of his horses out to Pomona. He sold the horse for $30,000 on the first day of the auction and on the second day he and his trainer were looking for a horse to bring back to the Garden State to race.

Demiero is one of the horse people who seem to be involved in nebulous businesses besides the sport of kings. He said he owns about 15 horses but is also president of what he described as a mutual fund company called the Delaware Group in Philadelphia.

Demiero said he had a limit of $50,000 to spend on a horse.

"This is a totally unpredictable activity," said Suzanne Jenkins, the trainer who with Demiero was examining the available horses before they went out on stage for the actual bidding.

"Most of the people here will lose money. We all know that but I guess we do it for the risk, for the excitement," she explained.

People at the auction agreed that most of the buyers would end up losing money and that the business is in a slow period because of the economy and more competition for consumers' leisure dollars.

Richard Tam, who said he's been in the horse business for more than 20 years, owns about 45 horses out of his base of operations in Las Vegas, where he made his money on real estate development.

"When the tax laws were changed in 1986, a lot of things changed. Ninety percent of the owners now lose money on horses. This is one sport where the owners really do lose money," he said.

Then why does he do it?

"It's a fascinating business and it's a beautiful sport. The horses are magnificent animals and there is always the chance that you'll win. There's the possibility of a real thrill. It also has to do with raising a horse and seeing it develop and go off and race and maybe win," he said.

The way the auction works is that horses are brought to the Pomona complex by agents several days before the event. Potential buyers can watch the horses train on a track and examine them up close in stables before they are brought out on stage.

The horse people said in buying a thoroughbred, you should look at its breeding, conformation (skeletal and muscular shape) and ground action (how it runs).

Once on stage, it's up to the auctioneers to get the best price for a horse by "chanting," that nonstop rat-tat-tatting that comes out of an auctioneer's mouth.

Out in front of the auctioneer are spotters, who take the bids from the buyers and relay them to the auctioneer's desk. The only one talking during the bidding is the auctioneer, everything else is done through hand signals by those bidding and the spotters.

"The whole thing is designed to get people excited and motivated to make a bid and buy a horse," said spotter Tom Biederman of Lexington, Ky.

PHOTO : Horses fetch high prices at Barretts auction: Day one raked in $6.9 million

PHOTO : Above: Spotters help identify bidders. Below: Video monitors identify horses