Brian Robin

Muck Rack profile
Racing in the Northeast in winter comes with pitfalls such as this that faced jockeys earlier this winter at Aqueduct. That New York track was one of several canceling its Saturday card due to a powerful winter storm hitting the Northeast and Mid Atlantic. (Image; Coglianese Photo)

Here’s Why You Can’t Bet Several Tracks Saturday: Blame the Storm

- 2 min read

A powerful, late winter storm wiped out Saturday racing cards at several Midwest and Eastern tracks, most notably New York’s Aqueduct, Maryland’s Laurel Park and West Virginia’s Charles Town. That explains why horseplayers can’t bet those races on their ADWs. The storm already claimed Turfway Park in Kentucky’s last five […]

Ce Ce's nose victory in the Apple Blossom two years ago was her first Grade 1 score. She is the 3/1 second choice in Saturday's Grade 2 Azeri Stakes at Oaklawn Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

Don’t Sleep on This Budding Mare Rivalry in Oaklawn’s Azeri Stakes

- 3 min read

While eyes are on Tampa Bay Downs and its Kentucky Derby prep, Oaklawn Park offers up the juicy Grade 3 Azeri Stakes, starring an Eclipse Award winner and a mare who could eventually become one. That would be reigning Eclipse Award-winning female sprinter Ce Ce, who tangles with the Azeri’s […]

With this easy victory in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs last month, Classic Causeway proved he's clearly the one to beat in the Tampa Bay Derby. (Image; SV Photography)

This Week on the Derby Trail Stops at the Tampa Bay Derby

- 3 min read

As Kentucky Derby preps go, Saturday’s Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby doesn’t exactly provide the fast track to the Churchill Downs winner’s circle. You can get there from Tampa Bay Downs – if it was 2007 and you were Street Sense, that year’s Tampa Bay Derby winner. Or if you […]

Greatest Honour hasn't raced since finishing third in the Florida Derby 11 1/2 months ago. He has trained toward running in Saturday's Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. (Image: Dana WImpfheimer)

Challenger Reunites a Trio of Familiar Names on Comeback Trail

- 2 min read

You may have missed it on Saturday’s Tampa Bay Downs card, but three familiar names return to the track for the Challenger Stakes. The $100,000 race is on the Tampa Bay Derby undercard. The 1 1/16-mile Challenger welcomes back Greatest Honour for the first time in nearly a year. It […]

Classic Causeway's easy victory in the Sam F. Davis makes him the one bettors figure to key in the Tampa Bay Derby. That's the penultimate leg to this week's Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Spencer Tulis/SV Photography)

Tampa Bay Derby, Azeri Cap This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

- 3 min read

Tampa Bay Downs’ marquee race, the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, headlines this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 encompasses races from Tampa Bay Downs, Aqueduct and Oaklawn Park. The Tampa Bay Derby is the fourth leg of the five-leg pick […]

Jockey Paco Lopez, here piloting In Due TIme to a February allowance win, was suspended for 14 race days for his careless ride in last Saturday's Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

Paco Lopez Suspended 14 Days for Careless Riding In Fountain of Youth

- 2 min read

Jockey Paco Lopez was suspended for 14 race days by Gulfstream Park stewards Wednesday for careless riding in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. He was also placed on probation for the duration of Gulfstream’s Championship Meet. Lopez earned the suspension due to his trip aboard In Due Time, who […]

Go for Gin was the oldest living Kentucky Derby champion. He died Tuesday at the Kentucky Horse Farm at 31. (Image: Kentucky Horse Park)

Go for Gin, the Oldest Living Kentucky Derby Winner, dies at 31

- 2 min read

Go for Gin, the 1994 Kentucky Derby winner, died Tuesday of heart failure at the Kentucky Horse Park, where he lived after being pensioned from stud duty in 2011. The oldest living Kentucky Derby winner was 31. Not only was Go for Gin the oldest living Derby winner, he was […]

At 25/1, Serpentine blew away the field in the 2020 Epsom Derby. He became the first Derby champion in more than 100 years to be gelded. (Image: Bill Selwyn)

The Unkindest, Rarest Cut: 2020 Epsom Derby Champ Serpentine Gelded

- 2 min read

Winning England’s Epsom Derby — which Serpentine did in 2020 — is considered the biggest boon to a colt’s stallion future. Win the biggest 3-year-old race east of Kentucky and your stallion potential is limitless. Not in Serpentine’s case. Not anymore. The now 5-year-old son of the iconic Galileo was […]

This daylight victory in last Saturday's San Felipe Stakes is one big reason why Forbidden Kingdom is the 5/1 favorite in Pool 4 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Forbidden Kingdom Runs Into Favored Status in KDFW Pool 4

- 3 min read

Fresh off the heels of his dominant San Felipe Stakes win, Forbidden Kingdom opened as the 5/1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) Pool 4. That pool opens Friday and runs through Sunday. It runs concurrently with the lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager (KOFW) pool. There, Churchill Downs oddsmaker […]

Express Train captured the Santa Anita Handicap for his first Grade 1 victory. The even-money favorite gave trainer John Shirreffs his first Big 'Cap title. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Express Train Takes Shirreffs to Long Awaited Big ‘Cap Title

- 3 min read

John Shirreffs is on this year’s short list for induction into the National Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame this year. But Saturday brought the 76-year-old trainer an early, long-sought honor, one that eluded him for years. A Santa Anita Handicap trip to the winner’s circle. Express Train crossed that off Shirreffs’ […]

Forbidden Kingdom was a formidable presence in Saturday's Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes. His 5 3/4-length romp sent trainer Richard Mandella to the Kentucky Derby for the first time since 2004. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Forbidden Kingdom’s Romp Brings Richard Mandella Back to the Derby

- 3 min read

Forbidden Kingdom’s trainer, Richard Mandella, is one of the most underrated conditioners in the country and a Hall of Fame trainer who once won four Breeders’ Cup races in one day. But, missing from his considerable resume is a Triple Crown victory – of any type. Forbidden Kingdom illustrated Saturday […]

Express Train is the 8/5 favorite to win his first Grade 1 in Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Handicap Awaits its Next History-Making Winner

- 3 min read

Win the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and you immediately enter the discussion of the country’s best older horses. Win the 1 ¼-mile “Big ‘Cap” and you join a club featuring the likes of Seabiscuit, Hill Rise, Ack Ack, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, John Henry (twice), Alysheba, Best Pal, Tiznow, Game […]

Forbidden Kingdom has led at the quarter-mile mark in every race. He's the 8/5 favorite in Saturday's Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

San Felipe Relishes its Status as Kentucky Derby Kingmaker

- 3 min read

The San Felipe Stakes is known as one of the top Grade 2 Kentucky Derby preps in the country, the alma mater of Triple Crown race winners Authentic, California Chrome, Point Given, Fusaichi Pegasus and Affirmed. Aside from the 13 Derby champions and recently disqualified Medina Spirit, its alums found […]

Emmanuel won this December debut by daylight. He makes his anticipated stakes debut in Saturday's Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

All Eyes are on Emmanuel to Drink From This Fountain of Youth

- 3 min read

Emmanuel is on many Kentucky Derby watch lists as one of the colts to watch in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. Horseplayers watched him win his first two starts by a combined 11 ¼ lengths. They watched him get bet down to 18/1 in Circa Sports’ Derby futures and […]

With this Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes win on the resume, Tiz the Bomb is the class of Saturday's John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park. (Image: Keeneland/Coady Photography)

Back Off Dirt, Tiz the Bomb is Poised to Go Off in the Battaglia Memorial

- 3 min read

The John Battaglia Memorial isn’t one of your A-list Kentucky Derby preps. It’s probably not a B-lister either. But the status trip down the alphabet got a boost with the presence of Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes winner Tiz the Bomb. Tiz the Bomb headlines an oversubscribed 14-colt-and-gelding field in Saturday’s […]

Bob Baffert lost his appeal to stay his 90-day suspension imposed by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. (Image: Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia)

Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Rejects Baffert’s Appeal for Stay

- 3 min read

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission voted to deny trainer Bob Baffert a stay of his 90-day suspension Friday, upholding a decision made by KHRC Executive Director Marc Guilfoil. This is the latest saga in the late Medina Spirit’s post-Kentucky Derby positive test for the anti-inflammatory betamethasone, banned on race days […]

Dean's List stretches out from six furlongs to a mile at 7/2 on the morning line in the Grade 3 Gotham Saturday at Aqueduct. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

Will Baffert, Pletcher Or Someone Else Take Over Gotham?

- 3 min read

Yes, the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes is a Kentucky Derby prep, which means your eyes naturally gravitate to whatever colt Bob Baffert has in the proceedings. And Derby ban aside, the Hall of Fame trainer does come to Aqueduct with a gilt-edged contender in Rockefeller. But this being the Gotham […]

Cezanne runs for the third time in 11 months in Saturday's Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Cezanne, Brickyard Road Renew Rivalry in San Carlos Stakes

- 2 min read

The last time Cezanne and Brickyard Ride tangled before this Saturday’s Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita, Brickyard Ride entangled himself in a suicidal speed duel that left him nearly 10 lengths behind his rival. It came last April, in the Grade 3 6 1/2-furlong Kona Gold Stakes. […]

Nashua winner and California-based Rockefeller returns to Aqueduct for the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes, the fourth race on the Cross Country Pick 5. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

It’s Off to Gotham for Key to This Week’s Cross Country Pick 5

- 3 min read

The “other” Kentucky Derby prep — the Grade 3 Gotham from Aqueduct Park — highlights this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. This week’s Cross Country Pick 5 encompasses races from Aqueduct, Tampa Bay Downs and Oaklawn Park. The Gotham, which offers 50-20-10-5 Derby qualifying points to its […]

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