Trainers Doug O’Neill and Bob Baffert will be preparing several of the high-priced lots out of Monday’s Barretts May 2YO Sale in California.

O’Neill (I’ll Have Another) and Baffert (Bodemeister) trained the quinella in the G1 Kentucky Derby last Saturday week.

Agent Brett Lindenbaum bought the $300,000 sale-topper for an undisclosed client but said Baffert would be the trainer.  The Master Command – Grinch (Salt Lake) colt sold as a yearling at Keeneland for $37,000.

“He’s a lovely horse,” vendor Ciaran Dunne said.  “He was a beautiful yearling when we bought him.  We aimed him at this sale from Day 1.  We figured he might be a bit of a standout here.”

Master Command (A.P. Indy) was a G2 winner of the 2006 Meadowlands Breeders’ Cup and 2007 New Orleans Hcp (G2).  He stood at Taylor Made Stallions in Kentucky but died after just two seasons at stud.  There were 30 individual winners in his first crop of two year-olds in 2011.

Dunne also consigned a Lion Heart – Seattle Qui (Seattle Slew) colt that cost $210,000.  He’s a half brother to stakes winner Classical Slew and was purchased by Doug O’Neill’s brother Dennis.  The colt had sold for $130,000 at the 2011 Keeneland September yearling sale.

“I loved him breeze,” O’Neill said of the Lion Heart colt who clocked 200m in 10 seconds even.  “I like the bottom side of the pedigree and he vetted perfect.”

Baffert will also train the top-priced filly, a $200,000 daughter of Rock Hard Ten out of the stakes-winning mare Requesting More (Norquestor).  

In all, 70 juveniles sold on Monday for $3.05 million an average of $43,664.  The average increased 18% on a clearance rate of 82%.  “The sale was strong on all levels,” Barretts general manager Kim Lloyd said.  “The middle was especially strong and the buy-backs were down from last year.”