Brian Robin

Muck Rack profile
Fans returned to Belmont Park for this year's spring/summer meet, albeit in smaller numbers. The track still recorded a 20.6% boost in all-sources handle from 2019. (Image: NYRA)

Belmont Park Reports 20% Boost in 2021 Spring/Summer Meet Handle

- 2 min read

Displaying further signs of post-pandemic economic health, Belmont Park boosted its 2021 spring/summer meet handle by 20.6% over 2019 totals, and 63.5% over last year’s handle. The New York Racing Association released the figures Wednesday. They showed the 48-day Belmont spring/summer meet brought in $632,208,251 in all-sources handle. This, from […]

Golden Pal makes his 3-year-old debut on Saratoga's opening day Thursday. The standout sprinter is the 1/2 morning-line favorite in the Grade 3 Quick Call. (Image: Coolmore)

Saratoga’s 2021 Season Opens with Fans, Golden Pal’s Return

- 3 min read

The long-anticipated 2021 Saratoga Meet opens Thursday, headlined by a familiar name — Golden Pal — making his seasonal debut. The standout sophomore sprinter anchors a deep field of 3-year-olds in the Grade 3 Quick Call. That 5 ½-furlong sprint on the Mellon Turf Course is one of two stakes […]

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert (left), shown here leaving federal court during a Monday hearing, had his indefinite suspension by the New York Racing Association ruled unconstitutional. A Brooklyn judge said the suspension violated the trainer's due process rights. (Image: AP File Photo/John Minchillo)

Judge Rules Bob Baffert’s NYRA Suspension Unconstitutional

- 3 min read

On the eve of Saratoga Race Course’s 2021 opening day, a New York federal judge ruled the New York Racing Association’s suspension of Bob Baffert was unconstitutional. That Wednesday ruling by Judge Carol Bagley Amon opens the gate for the Hall of Fame trainer to run his charges at Saratoga’s […]

Authentic (right) held off NY Traffic to win the 2020 Haskell Stakes. That helped the eventual Horse of the Year claim a $1 million bonus for winning three prestigious races.(Image: Ryan Denver/EQUI-PHOTO)

This $1 Million Bonanza is Easy: Just Win Haskell, Travers and BC Classic

- 2 min read

Monmouth Park and BetMakers Technology Group announced a $1 million bounty – the BetMakers Bonanza — to any 3-year-old who wins the Haskell Stakes, the Travers Stakes, and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Just win three of the most prestigious events in American racing. Simple, right? Actually, one horse collected the […]

True Timber and Kendrick Carmouche won last year's Cigar Mile. Aqueduct's featured race during its Fall Meet is the lone Grade 1 race among its 26 stakes events. (Image: Susie Raisher/NYRA)

Cigar Mile Once Again Headlines Aqueduct’s Fall Stakes Schedule

- 2 min read

The New York Racing Association took time out from prepping for Thursday’s Saratoga Meet opener to announce Aqueduct’s stakes schedule for its fall meet. Aqueduct’s 18-day fall meet offers 26 stakes races – 10 of those graded – along with $4.9 million in purses. That meet begins Friday, Nov. 5 […]

Santa Barbara won the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks in come-from-behind fashion Saturday. The Irish filly may be back for November's Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar. (Image: Elsa Lorieul/Coglianese Photos)

Irish Invaders Santa Barbara, Bolshoi Ballet Plan Breeders’ Cup Return

- 3 min read

Bolshoi Ballet and Santa Barbara came across the Atlantic from their Irish home, arrived at Belmont Park, won their respective Turf Triple Series races, and returned to Ireland on Sunday. But expect to see the Irish colt and filly back in November for the Breeders’ Cup. “That’s the plan for […]

Chad Brown can afford to smile, after the 42-year-old trainer won his sixth consecutive Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet training title. (Image: NYRA/Coglianese Photo)

Brown Sees Green Again, Wins Sixth Straight Belmont Park Training Title

- 3 min read

Belmont Park continues to be Chad Brown’s world and the rest of the New York horse racing community is merely living in it. Brown clinched the Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet training title for the sixth consecutive year, racking up 32 victories over the 48-day meet that ended Sunday. Jose Ortiz […]

Galileo was the European Champion 3-Year-Old of 2001. As a stallion, he won 12 British-Irish sire titles in 13 years. (Image: Coolmore)

Incomparable Champion Sire Galileo Euthanized At 23 After Foot Injury

- 2 min read

Galileo, the most successful European sire in racing history, was euthanized early Saturday morning after suffering a chronic, debilitating injury to his left fore foot. The son of Sadler’s Wells was 23. Coolmore Farm, Galileo’s owners, announced the death after Galileo’s injury failed to respond to treatment. “It is a […]

Irish colt Bolshoi Ballet came across the Atlantic and grabbed favorite status in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational. The colt won two of his last three starts, including this score at the Ballysax Stakes. (Image: INPHO/Peter Mooney)

The Belmont Derby Gives You International Flavor, Domestic Depth

- 4 min read

The Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational offers up a Kentucky Derby alum, along with a former Bob Baffert colt who may be the turf star of his generation. It also gives you one of Europe’s top turf terrors, straight from the barn of that continent’s top trainer – Aidan O’Brien. […]

Jesus' Team won December's Claiming Crown Jewel Stakes for his only stakes victory. The one-time claimer returns to the track as a millionaire for Sunday's City of Dania Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Lauren King/Coglianese Photos)

One-Time Claimer Jesus’ Team Returns to Action as Millionaire

- 3 min read

Jesus’ Team, the plucky, one-time $35,000 claimer-turned-millionaire, returns Sunday, headlining the field for the City of Dania Stakes at Gulfstream Park. That one-mile test is for 3-year-olds and up. And should Jesus’ Team pass that test to the satisfaction of trainer Jose D’Angelo, next on his agenda is the Grade […]

Bonny South prancings took her around the Midwest and Eastern tracks, including this Keeneland victory in April. She runs at her eighth track Saturday in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap. (Image: Anne M. Eberhardt)

Well-Traveled Bonny South Heads East for Delaware Handicap

- 3 min read

If Thoroughbreds had passports that required stamps at every distinct race track, Bonny South’s would already need extra pages. Well-traveled? Bonny South checks that box. Meanwhile, she’ll check off another track Saturday when she comes into Delaware Park as the 3/2 morning-line favorite in the Grade 2 Delaware Handicap. The […]

Del Mar changed its traditional $2 Pick 6 to a 20-cent jackpot-style it calls the "Rainbow Pick Six." The new wager is an effort to create seven-figure pools for mandatory payout days. (Image: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club)

Del Mar Adds Rainbow Jackpot Pick 6 to Upcoming Wagering Menu

- 3 min read

Joining the trend set by other tracks around the country, Del Mar announced it will add a 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot bet to its arsenal of wagers for its upcoming summer meet. The seaside track north of San Diego replaced its regular $2 Pick 6 with the 20-cent jackpot version, […]

Dayoutattheoffice won the 2020 Frizette Stakes during Belmont Park's Fall Meet. The Grade 1 Frizette is one of 20 graded stakes on Belmont Park's 2021 Fall Meet schedule. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Four Grade 1s, 20 Graded Stakes Headline Belmont Park’s Fall Meet Slate

- 3 min read

Bettors will have a veritable smorgasbord of options to choose from when Belmont Park’s Fall Meet takes to the track in September. In a schedule released by the New York Racing Association on Tuesday, organizers are featuring four, Grade 1 races and five Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” Challenge […]

Oaklawn Park's 2021-22 stakes schedule consists of a record 36 stakes. Included is a revamping of its Kentucky Derby trail stops. (Image: Coady Photography)

Oaklawn Park Boosts Arkansas Derby Purse, Remakes Derby Prep Trail

- 3 min read

Oaklawn Park just shifted the landscape for the 2022 Kentucky Derby trail, boosting the purse for the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby to $1.25 million and moving the race up a week, to April 2, 2022. That moves the Arkansas Derby from its traditional spot as the last major Derby prep […]

Mr. Wireless broke his maiden with this March victory at Oaklawn Park. He is expected to provide competition to favorite Fulsome in Wednesday's Grade 3 Indiana Derby. (Image: Coady Photography)

Fulsome, Mr. Wireless Pick Up Favorite Lines for Indiana Derby

- 3 min read

There will be no Fulsome-O Besos rematch at Wednesday’s Indiana Derby. So playing the part of Fulsome’s erstwhile rival in the Grade 3 event is one Mr. Wireless. Your 4/5 morning-line favorite, Fulsome, heads the seven-horse field in what is Indiana’s richest horse race. The $300,000 Indiana Derby at Indiana […]

The pinnacle to date of Simply Ravishing's career came when she and Luis Saez captured the Grade 1 Alcibiades Stakes at Churchill Downs last October. The 3-year-old filly came out of a three-month retirement after not going into-foal. (Image: Coady Photography)

Simply Ravishing Back in Training After Failed Breeding Attempt

- 2 min read

Standout filly Simply Ravishing returned to training late last month, ending her quick retirement after she failed to get into foal to Into Mischief this spring. Trainer Kenny McPeek announced via Twitter that the Grade 1-winning filly will return to racing in the Aug. 4 Statue of Liberty Division at […]

Standout sprinter Yaupon won Sunday's Lite the Fuse Stakes at Pimlico. He was one of two favorites finding the winner's circle in Pimlico's Rainbow 6 mandatory payout day. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Mandatory Rainbow 6 Payout Creates $5.1 Million Avalanche at Pimlico

- 2 min read

Bettors piled more than $5.1 million into Pimlico Race Course’s 20-cent Rainbow 6 on Sunday, seeking a piece of the record jackpot carryover on the Maryland track’s mandatory payout day. There were no unique tickets holding all six winners. That meant those holding the most winners walked away with $31,028.08 […]

Gamine, seen here winning April's Las Flores Stakes by five lengths, goes for her third 2021 win and eighth overall in Los Alamitos' Great Lady M Stakes. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

Gamine Gets Rare Company for Los Alamitos’ Great Lady M Stakes

- 2 min read

Amazingly enough, standout filly Gamine didn’t scare away the majority of her competitors for today’s Grade 2 Great Lady M Stakes on Los Alamitos’ Thoroughbred Racing Festival’s closing day. There are seven would-be rivals awaiting the 4-year-old Champion Filly Sprinter in the gate for the marquee event on Los Alamitos’ […]

Defunded owns only this maiden special weight win in five starts. But the gelding is the 3/5 favorite to win Sunday's Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

As Usual, Los Alamitos Derby Discussion Begins With Baffert

- 3 min read

Someone in this small, but scrappy, Los Alamitos Derby field is going to earn what has heretofore been a difficult achievement for them: a stakes victory.  And as usual in this race, Bob Baffert has the upper hand. Baffert sends out both 3/5 favorite Defunded and 5/2 second-favorite Classier into […]

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