Brian Robin

Muck Rack profile
Irad Ortiz Jr. points the way for Life Is Good after his dominant Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile victory last month. The next stop on the colt's race itinerary is the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Skip Dickstein)

Pletcher Points Life Is Good Toward Pegasus World Cup Invitational

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner and Eclipse Award candidate Life Is Good will open his 4-year-old season in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, a race trainer Todd Pletcher lacks on his Hall of Fame resume. Pletcher won the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational last year with Colonel Liam, […]

Messier and Flavien Prat controlled the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes last month at Del Mar. Oddsmakers make the pair a 1/2 morning-line choice to give Bob Baffert his eighth consecutive Los Alamitos Futurity title. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Los Alamitos Futurity: The Race Bob Baffert Made His Own

The Bob Baffert Invitational, otherwise known as the Los Alamitos Futurity, goes off on Saturday as the penultimate day of Los Alamitos’ short Thoroughbred Winter Meet. And as you would expect, the 1 1/16-mile test for 2-year-olds has that usual Baffert flavor to it. There’s Messier, the prohibitive 1/2 favorite. […]

Super Stock won the Zia Park Derby Thanksgiving week. He wheels back as the favorite in the inaugural Poinsettia Stakes at Oaklawn Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

Super Stock Throws His Millionaire Weight Around in Inaugural Poinsettia

Not three weeks after he parachuted in and came out with a resounding victory in the Zia Park Derby in New Mexico, Arkansas Derby champion Super Stock returns for Saturday’s inaugural Poinsettia Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The inaugural 1 1/16-mile Poinsettia, which gives 3-year-olds their last jaunt as sophomores, is […]

Mo Donegal and Irad Ortiz Jr . (left) nipped Zandon and John Velazquez at the wire to win the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes. Zandon's owner, Jeff Drown, filed a protest with the New York State Gaming Commission, claiming Ortiz fouled his horse with aggressive hand motions. (Image: Chelsea Durand/Coglianese Photos)

Zandon’s Owner Cries Foul, Files Protest Over Remsen Result

The sport of horse racing found itself in another legal tangle on Thursday when Jeff Drown, the owner of Grade 2 Remsen Stakes runner-up Zandon, filed a protest with the New York State Gaming Commission over a rejected post-race inquiry against race winner Mo Donegal. Drown filed the protest after […]

Nashville reeled off a record time winning the Perryville Stakes last November. He returns for the first time in nearly a year in a Friday Oaklawn Park allowance race. (Image: Keeneland/Coady Photography)

After a Year Away, Nashville Returns to Play an Oaklawn Park Allowance

It’s only an allowance sprint, not Nashville’s usual company. But the standout sprinter returns for the first time in nearly a year Friday afternoon, taking on six rivals in an Oaklawn Park 5 1/2-furlong dash. You’ll find Nashville on the rail in Oaklawn’s eighth race. As of now, he’s the […]

Beyond Brilliant's victory in the Grade 2 Hollywood Derby was one of the highlights of Del Mar's 2021 Bing Crosby Meet. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Del Mar Closes 2021 as Safest Major Racetrack in America

Del Mar took in record handle of more than $943 million in 2021, but that buries the lead of what became the most important feature of the suburban San Diego track during the two-session, 2021 racing season. The track endured just one fatality in 426 races, encompassing 3,552 starters, making […]

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit collapsed and died Monday morning after a workout at Santa Anita Park. The 3-year-old colt never finished out of the money in 10 career races. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Derby Champion Medina Spirit Dies of Apparent Heart Attack After Workout

The sporting world beyond horse racing was shocked Monday morning when 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit suddenly died of an apparent heart attack after a morning workout at Santa Anita Park. The Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old had just finished a five-furlong work in 1:01.40 when he collapsed. Santa Anita’s onsite […]

Jockey John Velazquez aboard Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit, with owner Amr Zedan (far left), trainer Bob Baffert (yellow tie) and the rest of the horse's connections. Zedan and Baffert's attorneys issueed a statement maintaining the horse's positive drug test was due to an ointment. (Image: Jamie Newell/TwinSpires)

Baffert Attorneys: Test Proves Cream Caused Medina Spirit’s Positive Test

The attorneys for Medina Spirit’s owner and trainer, Amr Zedan and Bob Baffert, issued statements late Friday claiming that tests performed by a New York laboratory confirmed their position that the Kentucky Derby winner’s positive test for the corticosteroid betamethasone came from the ointment Otomax and not an injection. Baffert’s […]

Kentucky Derby prospect Mo Donegal broke his maiden in his second try -- and longest race. He's the 8/5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

The Remsen Stakes Give You Derby Prospect Info — With Grains of Salt

As the latest stop on the Kentucky Derby trail, Saturday’s Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct introduces new faces to the Derby trail. But while you’re getting to know 8/5 favorite Mo Donegal and 5/2 second choice Zandon, re-acquaint yourself with another pertinent name. That would be Thunder Gulch. He’s […]

Americanrevolution dissected this Albany Stakes field by five lengths. Can he duplicate that effort in Grade 1 competition in Saturday's Cigar Mile? (Image: Sarah Andrew)

This Cigar Mile Comes Wrapped in Questions, Questions, Questions

The questions for Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct make the final Grade 1 race of the year in New York one of the saltiest fields on Aqueduct’s stakes schedule. Before we pose them for horseplayers, a history lesson is in order. Named after the 1994 champion of […]

Following Sea's dominant victory in the Grade 2 Vosburgh sets him up as a Cigar Mile contender. The Grade 1 race is Saturday at Aqueduct. (Image: Susie Raisher/NYRA)

Following Sea Seeks Validation, Breakout Win in Cigar Mile

Following Sea spent much of his 3-year-old season as a colt seeking a breakout victory that would vault him into the front rank of his class. His last chance to garner that as a sophomore comes in Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. The Cigar Mile is the signature […]

Grace Adler and Flavien Prat destroyed their rivals by more than 11 lengths in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in September. She is one of three Bob Baffert horses running the final Grade 1 of the year for 2-year-old fillies: Saturday's Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos. (Image: Behoit Photo)

Baffert Sends Three Looking for Five in the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes

Not surprisingly, Saturday’s Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos has that distinct Bob Baffert flavor to it. That flavor manifests itself with the Hall of Fame trainer sending out three 2-year-old fillies in what is the final Grade 1 of the year for juvenile fillies. To illustrate Baffert’s dominance […]

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will ride on the West Coast this winter. He leads all active riders with more than $446 million in career earnings. (Image: Coady Photgraphy)

Velazquez Bringing His Hall of Fame Resume to the West Coast

The Southern California jockey colony just got significantly deeper with the announcement that Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez is moving his tack to Santa Anita for the upcoming 2021-22 Winter/Spring Meet. This marks the first time in Velazquez’s decorated 32-year career he’s riding full-time in Southern California. A stalwart of […]

Gulfstream Park used its Fall Meet as a test for its new synthetic Tapeta track. The synthetic surface will be one of three surfaces used during Gulfstream's Championship Meet, which begins Friday. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photos)

Gulfstream Park Ready for its Tapeta Championship Meet Close-Up

Gulfstream Park opens its Championship Meet this weekend as the first racetrack to conduct races on three surfaces: dirt, turf, and all-weather, synthetic Tapeta. And given what we saw on the Tapeta during the Florida track’s Fall Meet, horseplayers have expectations as to what they’ll see heading into the winter […]

Corniche and Mike Smith won October's Grade 1 American Pharoah for one of his three victories in as many races. The presumptive Champion 2-Year-Old will remain with trainer Bob Baffert despite the conditioner's suspension from the next two Kentucky Derbies. (Image: Benoit Photo)

After Break, Baffert Will Get Kentucky Derby Prospect Corniche Back

Any reports of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Corniche moving out of Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s barn are premature — as of now. According to the Daily Racing Form, the odds-on favorite to win the Eclipse Award as 2-Year-Old Champion will return to Baffert’s California base after a freshening […]

Gun Runner's stud fee went from $50,000 in 2021 to $125,000 in 2022. He set the record for first-crop progeny earnings last weekend. (Image: Sarah Andrew)

Former Horse of the Year Gun Runner Sets First-Crop Sire Earnings Mark

Gun Runner continued his climb up the stallion rankings this weekend, setting the record for all-time progeny earnings for a first-crop sire. The Three Chimneys’ stallion climbed over the $3.8 million mark when Shotgun Hottie captured a $92,000 maiden special weight race at Churchill Downs on Sunday. That sent Gun […]

Along with a timely bet by Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale, Smile Happy's timely victory in Saturday's Kentucky Jockey Club helped make him the 8/1 individual favorite for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1. (Image: Coady Photography)

A Familiar Name Makes Smile Happy KDFW Pool 1 Individual Favorite

Courtesy of a $10,000 bet by Houston area furniture store owner Jim “Mattress Mack McIngvale, Smile Happy closed as the individual 8/1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1. McIngvale dropped the bet down around 5 p.m. ET, knocking Smile Happy’s odds from 15/1 to 9/1. Even with […]

Princess Grace's victory in September's Ladies Turf Cup was her fourth consecutive stakes score. She is an 8/5 morning-line favorite to win her first Grade 1: the Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar. (Image: Coady Photography)

Stidham Plans Matriarch Stakes Grade 1 Coronation for Princess Grace

Mike Stidham sent Princess Grace west in search of a hopeful Grade 1 coronation in Sunday’s Matriarch Stakes at Del Mar, whereupon he stabled her at Barn X. Now, the question is, can the four-time graded stakes winner can avoid a Brand X performance in her Grade 1 debut? Princess […]

Subconscious won three consecutive races after being gelded. He is the second favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at Del Mar. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Hollywood Derby Comes With East-West Rivalry Flavor

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella sends 4/1 second-choice Subconscious out in today’s Grade 1 Hollywood Derby. But even he knows where most of the attention is during Del Mar’s Bing Crosby Meet closing weekend. And that’s Brown. Chad Brown. Trainer of turf terrors and eastern feaster of this weekend’s […]

Tiz the Bomb, seen here winning the Castle and Key Bourbon Stakes, is the 3/1 favorite in a deep Kentucky Jockey Club field. (Image: Keeneland)

Derby Trail Traffic Resumes Saturday With Kentucky Jockey Club

Traffic on the Kentucky Derby trail picks up again Saturday with a full cast of 14 entered in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, the headlining race on Churchill Downs’ Saturday card. Up for grabs are 10-4-2-1 Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers, along with another Derby prospect […]