The Avengers

'TDN Rising Star' Messier (Empire Maker) will look to take his talent around two turns as a prohibitive favorite in Saturday's GII Los Alamitos Futurity. A $470,000 FTKSEL buy by the powerful ownership conglomerate nicknamed The Avengers, the bay settled for second at 1-2 in his local unveiling July 27. He resurfaced at Santa Anita Oct. 22 after a minor foot issue, and blew away his competition by 6 1/2 lengths. The son of MSW router Checkered Past (Smart Strike) made similarly short work of Del Mar's GIII Bob Hope...

Murray (Street Sense), the most fancied of a trio of Bob Baffert-trained juveniles owned by the stallion-making conglomerate most easily referred to as "The Avengers" and seeking their diplomas in Del Mar's second race Sunday, blew past the buzzed-about even-money Peter Miller newcomer Drink the Wind (More Than Ready) en route to 'TDN Rising Star'-dom. The $300,000 Keeneland September yearling broke on top at 5-2 but Drink the Wind was ridden along to seize a clear lead. Murray was content to sit second under Flavien Prat and began to ratchet...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency  6th-LRC, $45K, Msw, 2yo, 5f, post time: 6:28 p.m. ET The stallion-making syndicate nicknamed "The Avengers" will be represented by a pricey pair of yearling buys here conditioned by Bob Baffert. Favored at 6-5 on the morning line is Messier (Empire Maker), who was the most expensive buy by his late sire last year when he brought $470,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Select Yearlings Showcase. The bay is out of two-turn stakes winner Checkered Past (Smart Strike) from a Sam-Son family that includes Canadian champions Catch...

6th-Santa Anita, $61,500, Msw, 3-26, 3yo, 1m, 1:37.64, ft, 4 1/2 lengths. BEZOS (c, 3, Empire Maker--A P Mink, by A.P. Indy) failed to live up to the immense hype when seventh at 3-5 behind 'TDN Rising Star' Dream Shake (Twirling Candy) sprinting here Feb. 7, but he made good on the buzz this time while getting more ground to work with. Shedding the blinkers this time, the handsome bay was off at 7-5 in the field of five. Away well from the rail, Bezos took the lead into the...

With a pandemic that's led to the loss of 200,000 lives, the loss of jobs, and overall economic instability that's affected most people except for the super wealthy that are heavily invested in the stock market, no one expected the Keeneland September yearling sale to be anything but down by gross and average versus last year. This was as predictable as saying that an egg dropped on concrete from six feet would break. So, what's the damage? Through the first 10 sessions that ended with Book 5 on Wednesday, 2,129...

by Brian DiDonato, Jessica Martini & Christie DeBernardis LEXINGTON, KY--A Tapit filly out of GISW Embellish the Lace (Super Saver) topped the opening session of Keeneland's September yearling sale on a $1.25-million bid by Claiborne Farm's Bernie Sams. The bay was consigned to the auction as hip 149 by Bluewater Sales LLC, Agent XVI, on behalf of breeder China Horse Club. While stringent COVID-19 protocols put in place to allow the world's largest yearling sale to be held at all may have dulled some of the electricity typically felt in...

When the balance of power shifts anywhere, one side or another usually makes a move to regain equilibrium. It's the way of the world, the yin and the yang of natural order. In Avengers, a film based on Stan Lee characters from Marvel Comics, a guy named Nick Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D., acts to save the earth from an outside threat by recruiting a bunch of superheroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor. There's a self-named version of this group in racing now, and they're part of...