Bezos

While trainer Mike Stidham isn't fully closing the door on a run in the GI Kentucky Derby for his pupil Proxy (Tapit), Saturday the colt will divert from the big-stage preps in an attempt for a confidence builder as he figures a prohibitive favorite in the GIII Stonestreet Lexington S. at Keeneland. A second-out graduate Nov. 26 at Fair Grounds, the Godolphin homebred repeated in an allowance there Dec. 19 before passing the class test with a good second in the GIII Lecomte S. Runner-up in the GII Risen Star...

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...

The Week in Review by Bill Finley It's not often in this sport that John Q. Horseplayer gets a break, but that's exactly what happened last week when it was revealed that NYRA was no longer accepting bets from the so-called computer-assisted wagering (CAW) players on its Empire Six wager. The Empire Six wager joined the Cross Country Pick 5 and the late Pick 5 as NYRA wagers that are no longer available to the CAW players. The computer players use algorithms that predict the probability of a particular outcome....

Exline-Border Racing LLC, SAF Racing & Richard Hausman's Dream Shake (Twirling Candy), completely ignored at 20-1 while facing an extremely tough-looking group of Santa Anita sophomores led by Bob Baffert hype horse Bezos (Empire Maker), whipped around the turn and ran up the score to snag 'TDN Rising Star' honors. The dark bay, who was a $32,000 KEESEP yearling turned $75,000 OBSAPR buy off a :10.1 breeze, sported an unassuming worktab on paper capped by a 1:01 flat (11/64) spin a week earlier (XBTV video) for a typically patient barn....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 5th-SA, $61K, Msw, 3yo, 6 1/2f, 4:03 p.m. ET The day has finally arrived for the buzzed-about Bezos (Empire Maker) to kick off his career for Bob Baffert and the powerful ownership conglomerate nicknamed The Avengers. The $400,000 KEESEP yearling has been working so well at Santa Anita that he was bet down to 26-1 in the GI Kentucky Derby future pool that closed Jan. 24 without having yet made an afternoon appearance. His tab includes a :59.40 (1/39) gate breeze Jan. 21 in which...