Brian Robin

Muck Rack profile
Hot Rod Charlie is one of two Doug O'Neill horses in the Saturday's Robert B. Lewis field. He's seeking a repeat of his out-of-nowhere second as a 94/1 longshot in the Breeders' Cup Classic. (Image: Horsephotos)

Lewis Stakes Recount Historic Horses, Revive Current Rivalries

In 2012, little-known 43/1 long shot I’ll Have Another won the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park. This feat drew mild murmurs and a few curious looks throughout the horseracing world. After all, the Doug O’Neill-trained colt came into the Lewis off a horrible sixth in the Hopeful […]

Greatest Honour already owns a 1 1/16-mile victory from December. He is the 5/2 favorite to win a deep Holy Bull Saturday at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Lauren King/Gulfstream Park)

Forget the Name: The Holy Bull Is No Bull When Talking Derby Preps

The Holy Bull is the race that vaulted Tiz the Law onto the front row of Kentucky Derby contenders. Never mind the fact he didn’t win the rescheduled Derby. It vaulted him to the Belmont Stakes title. Tiz the Law didn’t come out of the Holy Bull to a garland […]

Authentic carried jockey John Velazquez to a Kentucky Derby title in September and his connections to an Eclipse Award as 2020 Horse of the Year. (Image: Gregory Shamus/Getty)

Authentic Runs Away With 2020 Horse of the Year Eclipse Award

Authentic rarely won his big races by big margins. But, he won his final “race” – the Eclipse Award for 2020 Horse of the Year – by a Secretariat at the Belmont-esque 31 lengths on the track. The Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic champion garnered 224 out of a […]

Officials a the Red Mile Casino in Lexington turned off their HHR machines last weekend. A state senator plans filing a bill to legalize the machines when Kentucky's General Assembly opens 
 next week. (Image: The Red Mile)

Kentucky State Senator Will File HHR Legalization Bill Next Week

As one major racetrack shuttered its Historical Horse Racing (HHR) machine parlor, Kentucky State Sen. John Schickel (R-Union) said Thursday he authored a bill supporting legalization of the machines. Schickel, whose district includes Churchill Downs Inc.-owned Turfway Park, told WTVQ-TV he plans on filing the bill when the legislative session […]

The versatile Mutasaabeq owns stakes victories on turf and dirt -- like this one in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes. The colt suffered a minor shin injury during a workout that takes him off the Kentucky Derby Trail. (Image: Lauren King, Coglianese Photos)

Mutasaabeq Exits Kentucky Derby Trail After Shin Injury

Mere days before he was set to run in the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park, Mutasaabeq suffered a shin injury that will take the Kentucky Derby prospect off the Triple Crown trail. Trainer Todd Pletcher told reporters the injury – while frustrating for an upper-level Derby contender – […]

Authentic's dynamic victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic earned him the No. 2 spot on Longines 2020 World Racing Awards. (Image: Breeders' Cup)

Authentic Ranked Second to Ghaiyyath in 2020 World Racing Awards

Two days before his expected coronation as Horse of the Year, Authentic took home the No. 2 spot in the 2020 Longines World Racing Awards. This translates to the Into Mischief colt being named the second-ranked horse in the world. It also translates into Authentic earning top honors as the […]

Jockey Manny Franco rode Sharing to her signature victory: the 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita. The 4-year-old filly retired after suffering a paddock injury. (Image: Getty)

Breeders’ Cup Champion Sharing Retired After Paddock Injury

Standout filly Sharing, who won the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf as one of her five career victories, was retired from racing Tuesday after suffering an undisclosed paddock injury. The undisclosed injury won’t take the 4-year-old daughter of Speightstown out of her broodmare career, according to Aron Wellman, president […]

Santa Anita canceled Friday's racing card due to expected showers. The Southern California track will make up the races next week. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Scratches Friday’s Card Due to Expected Downpour

Citing a major winter storm expected this weekend, Santa Anita Park canceled its Friday racing card. The Southern California track announced the move Tuesday morning. Track officials announced that two turf stakes, the Grade 2 San Marcos on Saturday and Sunday’s Black-Type $75,000 Baffle, will move to next week. The […]

Caddo River used his 10 1/4-length victory in the Smarty Jones to run up the Kentucky Derby futures boards. (Image: Oaklawn Park)

Kentucky Derby Futures: Big Winners Make Big Odds Leaps

The first page of this week’s Kentucky Derby futures board got tighter – partly a byproduct of two horses getting loose from their rivals last weekend. The first was Caddo River, who moved to 16/1 at Circa Sports and 15/1 at William Hill Nevada. Dropping beneath 20/1 at this point […]

Colonel Liam's victory in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf certainly earned a thumbs-up from jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Could he be the older American turf star that division needs? (Image: Lauren King/Coglianese Photos)

Colonel Liam Ripe for Promotion After Clutch Pegasus Turf Victory

If American Thoroughbred racing has a quality gap, it’s in the area that Colonel Liam addressed on Saturday – the older male turf division. That division needs a standout, a go-to, must-watch horse who can grab eyes every time he enters a gate. And with his neck victory over stablemate […]

Knicks Go (right) illustrated why he is one of 2021's star racing attractions, blazing past his rivals to win the $3 million Pegasus World Cup. (Image: Associated Press)

Knicks Go Dunks on His Rivals Again, Wins Pegasus Gate-to-Wire

Enjoy Knicks Go while you can. Savor every start of his 5-year-old campaign, while you understand you’re watching horseracing’s star attraction of 2021. Knicks Go brought this lesson home in gate-to-wire fashion, winning the $3 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Saturday afternoon. It’s certainly understandable if Knicks […]

If Knicks Go gets an unchallenged lead like he did in blitzing the field ini the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, the Pegasus World Cup will be over in short order. The 5-year-old is the 5/2 favorite in the $3 million race. (Image: Coady Photography/Keeneland)

Without Baffert, Knicks Go’s Fast Break Makes Him Pegasus Favorite

If horses run in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational and Bob Baffert doesn’t train any of them, does it really happen? We’re about to find out what the richest dirt race for older horses in North America – non-Breeders’ Cup division – looks like without the preeminent dirt trainer of […]

Colonel Liam put on stars with this resounding Tropical Park Derby victory last month. He is the 7/2 morning-line favorite in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf. (Image: Lauren King/Coglianese Photos)

Colonel Liam Leads Pletcher Charge in $1 Million Pegasus Turf

As strange as it is to understand, turf maestro Chad Brown doesn’t have a horse in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf. Meanwhile, his East Coast training rival, Todd Pletcher, is bringing three charges to what is typically the best winter turf route race of the year. Before we […]

Historical Horse Racing (HHR) machines resemble slot machines, which are banned in Kentucky. They provided $2.2 billion to Kentucky's economy in 2019 and are a major economic engine for the state's key Thoroughbred industry. (Image: Canadian Thoroughbred Magazine)

Kentucky Supreme Court Rejects HHR Appeal, Lawmakers Up Next?

In the latest salvo fired in the ongoing debate about historical horse racing (HHR) machines in Kentucky, the state’s Supreme Court denied an appeal from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission requesting a second opinion on the legality of those machines. The Kentucky Supreme Court refused to reconsider its Sept. 24 […]

In three races, Caddo River hasn't finished worse than second. He won his last race before Friday's Smarty Jones Stakes by more than a nose -- 9 1/2 lengths. (Image: Robert Yates)

Caddo River, Cowan Seeking Breakout Stakes Win in Smarty Jones

One of the seven horses entered in Friday’s Smarty Jones Stakes will get his first stakes victory. It won’t be a graded stakes victory, but not one connection will throw this one back. Nor will they throw back the 17 Kentucky Derby qualifying points up for grabs to the top […]

Despite a bout with COVID, the death of his last major owner/client and a declining stable, D. Wayne Lukas remains a presence wherever he goes. He returns to Oaklawn Park for its Winter/Spring Meet, which starts Friday. (Image: Bob Bradley)

Iconic Trainer Lukas Back in the Oaklawn Park Saddle

He remains the Lion in Winter, albeit a lion overseeing a smaller pride these days. But D. Wayne Lukas is back at Oaklawn Park. He’s back to the winter jungle he ruled for most of the 1990s, and back without many of the high-profile clients who helped put him in […]

Knicks Go and Joel Rosario won the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile last November. The 5-year-old Brad Cox charge is the 5/2 favorite for Saturday's Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Skip Dickstein)

Knicks Go Draws Prime Pegasus Post, Tabbed as 5/2 Favorite

With three straight victories in as many 2020 starts, Knicks Go is exactly the type of horse who wins the Pegasus World Cup Invitational. Now, add a prime starting spot from Post 4 to the mix, and it’s easy to understand how Knicks Go became the 5/2 favorite when Pegasus […]

Aqueduct Racetrack served Queens as more than a sporting institution. It's first floor is now a New York COVID-19 vaccination center. (Image: NYRA)

Aqueduct Racetrack Doubles as State COVID-19 Vaccination Center

Aqueduct Racetrack once played host to a Pope and the only triple dead heat in a stakes race. Now, the New York track plays host to a state-run COVID-19 vaccination distribution center. The New York Racing Association (NYRA) opened Aqueduct’s first floor to state health officials, who began distributing the […]

Lecomte Stakes winner Midnight Bourbon opens at 30/1 in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2. (Image: Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography)

The Field is Your Favorite in Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2

While Life Is Good yielded his favorite status in at least one Las Vegas future book, he holds down 6/1 individual favorite status in Pool 2 of Churchill Downs’ Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) pool. At the same time, the Derby field of “All Other 3-Year-Olds” is the overall 9/5 […]