Brian Robin

Muck Rack profile
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) outlined rules for drug use, riding crop usage and claiming races. (Image: Jay Baker)

HISA Outlines Proposed Rules Governing Drugs, Crops and Claims

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) released its proposed new rules on Thursday that address doping enforcement, medication, crop usage, and new claiming provisions. The HISA proposal puts drug enforcement in the hands of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Those rules simplify what is often a Byzantine maze of […]

Aqueduct Racetrack spent much of 2021 as a New York State COVID vaccination center. It reverts to its regular racetrack duties starting Thursday. (Image: NYRA/Aqueduct)

Aqueduct Racetrack’s Shots Now Come on the Track, Not Off of It

After serving time as a New York State COVID vaccination center, Aqueduct Racetrack reverts back to its traditional duties as the state’s winter home for racing on Thursday. The track opens to fans on Veteran’s Day for its 18-day fall meet. That meet runs through Sunday, Dec. 5 with a […]

A familiar sight: Pursuers vainly chasing Knicks Go. The 5-year-old beat sophomores Medina Spirit, Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie to win the $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic Saturday at Del Mar. (Image: AP Photo)

Breeders’ Cup Day 2: Land of Knicks Go, Rising Sun and Falling Favorites

Now that the Breeders’ Cup Classic performed its designated coronation, you can start engraving Knicks Go’s name on the Horse of the Year trophy now. Avoid the rush, which Knicks Go splendidly did at Del Mar Saturday evening. He broke out to his patented early lead and turned aside all […]

Jockey William Buick celebrates his victory aboard Modern Games in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf. It wasn't a popular win with bettors after the 9/5 favorite was taken out of the wagering pool when he was initially scratched. (Image: Jae C. Hong)

Bizarre Beginning Leads to Head Games for Modern Games Bettors

The very aptly named Modern Games “won” the finale on Friday’s Breeders’ Cup five-race, all-juvenile card, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Except bettors didn’t collect a dime from his score. Fasten your seat belts. This Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf will live in betting infamy for a long time. How many […]

Knicks Go breezed to victory in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He takes 5/2 morning-line favorite status for Saturday's $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic against a wealth of tougher contenders. (Image: Horsephotos)

Breeders’ Cup Classic: An All-Star Field With Numerous Possibilities

The first thing worth understanding about the Breeders’ Cup Classic is that it’s not kind to favorites. Unless you qualify for legend status, like Ferdinand, Alysheba, A.P. Indy, Cigar, Skip Away, Ghostzapper, Zenyatta and American Pharoah do. Last year’s winner, Authentic, was 5/1. Your favorite, meanwhile, was 3.20/1 Tiz the […]

Breeders' Cup Juvenile favorite and Champagne Stakes winner Jack Christopher was a late Thursday scratch from Friday's $2 million race.( Image: Janet Garaguso/NYRA)

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Favorite Jack Christopher a Late Scratch

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile favorite Jack Christopher won’t run in Friday’s $2 million Juvenile, according to the Breeders’ Cup, which announced the scratch on Twitter late Thursday night. The 9/5 favorite for the 1 1/16-mile Juvenile was scratched due to a left shin issue, according to a tweet from Bradley Weisbord, […]

Domestic Spending was the 4/1 seconds choice to win the $4 million Breeders' Cup Turf. He was scratched due to inflammation in his leg. (Image: Ella DeGea)

Domestic Spending, United Scratched from Breeders’ Cup Turf

Domestic Spending and United, two of the primary American horses in the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf, were both scratched Thursday morning by their trainers due to inflammation. The scratches alter the dynamic of a race in which Domestic Spending was the 4/1 second favorite and considered the Great American […]

Gear Jockey and Jose Lezcano needed a scratch for this Turf Sprint berth at Kentucky Downs. They parlayed that into a win and a spot in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar. (Image: Coady Photography)

Gear Jockey Shifts Into Sprint Mode Just In Time for Breeders’ Cup

When you watch Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and hear the name Gear Jockey, you need to understand the grinding wheels of opportunity-meets-preparation that it took to bring him to the Del Mar starting gate. Gear Jockey needed a scratch to get him into the Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs. […]

Hot Rod Charlie earned his first Grade 1 win with this solid September score in the Pennsylvania Derby. He is the 4/1 third-favorite to win Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic. (Image: Parx Racing)

Hot Rod Charlie’s Breeders’ Cup Journey: From Footnote to Headliner

The last time Hot Rod Charlie arrived at the Breeders’ Cup, he was a 94/1 afterthought in a Juvenile field that included favored Jackie’s Warrior, eventual winner Essential Quality and the highly regarded Keepmeinmind, among other “name” 2-year-olds. Name? Hot Rod Charlie had only that cool moniker going for him. […]

After his 102 Beyer Speed Figure-clocking victory in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes, Jack Christopher figures to take a lot of money in Friday's Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Can he navigate two turns to pay off bettors backing him at low odds? (Image: Joe Labozzetta/NYRA Photos)

Five Juvenile Races Make Breeders’ Cup Friday Let The Kids Play Day

Make no mistake, the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf may anchor Friday’s opening day of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. But the adventures of Charlie Appleby’s Modern Games and Albahr in that race might as well be the chorus when it comes to “Future Stars Friday,” as Breeders’ Cup […]

Gamine, seen here winning the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga, is the biggest favorite of the 14 Breeders' Cup favorites. She opens at 3/5 to defend her title in the Filly & Mare Sprint. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Dom Napolitano)

Knicks Go, Essential Quality Your Breeders’ Cup Classic Favorites

Knicks Go and Essential Quality are stablemates, travel mates from East Coast to West Coast and now – after Monday’s post-position draws – they are gate neighbors for Saturday’s $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar. Essential Quality will start from post 4 in the nine-horse Classic field as […]

Idol's Sunday workout at Del Mar went well, according to trainer Richard Baltas. But the conditioner did not like how the Santa Anita Handicap champion looked afterward. (Image: Ella DeGea)

Breeders’ Cup Scratches: Idol is Idled From Classic, Flagstaff Out of Sprint

Santa Anita Handicap winner Idol, standout sprinter Flagstaff and promising juvenile Rattle N Roll were all scratched from their various Breeders’ Cup races Sunday with various ailments. Trainer Richard Baltas pulled Idol out of the Breeders’ Cup Classic after the conditioner found something untoward after his Sunday morning workout at […]

Independence Hall (right), held off Code of Honor in the Keeneland slop to win Saturday's Grade 2 Fayette. This final stakes race of Keeneland's Fall Meet helped the track bring in a record handle. (Image: Coady Photography)

Bettors Give Keeneland an 85th Anniversary Gift: Record Meet Handle

Keeneland threw itself an 85th anniversary party and horseplayers responded with a wagering gift: a record $181 million in all-sources handle for its just-concluded Fall Meet. The 17-day Fall Meet, which ran from Oct. 8-30, brought an all-sources handle of $181,009,626. That destroyed the previous mark of $164,680,229, set during […]

Knicks Go used this Lukas Classic victory as a tune-up for the Breeders' Cup Classic, where his speed figures top his competitors on two scales. (Image: Coady Photography)

Breeders’ Cup Speed Figures: Classic Questions, Possibilities Abound

Hot Rod Charlie, Art Collector, Medina Spirit and Stilleto Boy all come into the Breeders’ Cup Classic off career-best speed figures on all three barometers. Essential Quality and Max Player enter the fray off career-best marks on two tables. So what to make of this year’s 10-horse field in what […]

Jockey Umberto Rispoli and Rock Your World headline the final race in Santa Anita Park's Autumn Meet -- the Grade 2 Twilight Derby. Picking the correct winner here could bring someone a $5 million payout on mandatory payout day of Santa Anita's Rainbow Jackpot Pick Six. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Rainbow Pick Six Pool Pushing $5 Million on Closing Day

Santa Anita Park provides the next potentially rich, rollover setting Sunday, amassing a 20 cent Rainbow Pick Six Jackpot pool with a mandatory payout approaching $5 million. The mandatory payout comes on the 16th and final day of Santa Anita Park’s Autumn Meet. It kicks in provided a single-ticket winner […]

Code of Honor breezed to victory in the Grade 3 Philip Iselin at Monmouth. Can he find the boad again in his final race: Saturday's Fayette Stakes at Keeneland? (Image: Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO)

Code of Honor Rides Into Retirement After Saturday’s Fayette Stakes

The Grade 2 Fayette Stakes brings a host of recognizable names to its Keeneland starting gate Saturday for the featured event on Keeneland’s Fall Meet final day. None more recognizable than the horse running his final career race: Code of Honor. The 5-year-old owns two Grade 1 wins: both as […]