Brian Robin

Muck Rack profile
Starship Jubilee proved to bettors again why she is one of the best older turf mares in North America. She won Saturday's Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga, beating 2/5 favorite Sistercharlie. (Image: NYRA)
Javier Castellano

Starship Jubilee Flies Off With Adventurous Upset at Ballston Spa Stakes

While the horse racing world was focused on Maximum Security’s return on Saturday (spoiler alert: he won), the other end of the country produced one of the more surprising upsets in the graded stakes world. That, courtesy of Starship Jubilee, who took down 2/5 favorite Sistercharlie in the Grade 2 […]

Maximum Security survived an inquiry to win last year's Haskell Invitational. He returns to the gate for the first time in five months at Saturday's Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar. (Image: Equi-Photo)

Maximum Security’s Return Casts Big Shadow Over San Diego Handicap

As hard as it is to fathom, given his dominance over major races, there are races Bob Baffert can’t solve. So in true Baffert form, for one of those races — the San Diego Handicap — Baffert is calling in maximum reinforcements. He’s bringing in Maximum Security, who makes his […]

This volatile display of Volatile's speed went on display at June's Aristides Stakes. He opens as the 4/5 favorite for Saturday's Alfred Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga. (Image: Coady Photography)

Vanderbilt Handicap Short on Entries, Long on Volatile Speed

The secret is already out. But you can confirm exactly how volatile a sprinter Volatile is in Saturday’s Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap. The featured race on Saratoga’s Saturday card gives you a glimpse of some of the best sprinting talent in the country. Only five horses are entered […]

Enable and Frankie Dettori face only three rivals in their bid for history in Saturday's King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. (Image: Coady Photography)

Enable Running for History in King George VI and Queen Elizabeth

Horseplayers, your handicapping homework for Saturday’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes is minimal. No need to crunch volumes of numbers, because trainers for the Ascot race crunched them for you. They crunched them down to four horses for the Group 1, 1 ½-mile race at Ascot. Despite its […]

Whitmore won his third Count Fleet Sprint Handicap in four years in April. He goes for his 15th career win and second Grade 1 in Saturday's Alfred Vanderbilt Stakes. (Image: Richard Rasmussen/Hot Springs Sentinel-Record)

Whitmore Shows the Youngsters How This Sprinting Game Works

Usually, horses of Whitmore’s age are working in the breeding shed or are retired. They’re not doing morning workouts. Usually, horses with 14 career wins are … well, rarely do horses with this portfolio get to 14 career wins. But here is Whitmore, a 7-year-old gelding, seeking career win No. […]

Art Collector follows his Blue Grass Stakes victory with the Ellis Park Derby Aug. 9. (Image: Coady Photography)

July’s Kentucky Derby Preps Introduce New Contenders, Old Favorites

If we get a Kentucky Derby finish like the Haskell Stakes finish, they’ll be talking about that Derby for years to come. And after that Haskell, and the rest of July’s Derby preps, it’s a good time to see where the Derby contenders are at mid-summer – weird as that […]

After taking last weekend off due to a coronavirus outbreak among its jockeys, Del Mar's starting gate opens again beginning Friday. (Image: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club)

Making Up for Lost Time, Del Mar Adds Extra Day of Racing This Weekend

After taking last weekend off due to the coronavirus, Del Mar resumes racing this weekend with an extra day tacked on. The California Horse Racing Board approved the track’s request for Monday racing, giving the San Diego area track four days of racing this weekend. Normally in this summer of […]

Mike Smith and Authentic holding off Paco Lopez and Ny Traffic in Saturday's Haskell Stakes keyed a record handle day for Monmouth Park. The New Jersey track broke $20 million in daily handle for only the second time in its 75-year history. (Image: Peter Ackerman)

Saratoga, Monmouth Break Out Fast with Strong Handles

There were no fans in the stands at Saratoga for opening weekend, and few fans in the stands at Monmouth Park on Haskell weekend. But both tracks notched increased handles year-over-year from 2019. Saratoga’s opening weekend all-sources handle came in at $80,325,660, up 9.4% from 2019’s $73,441,101. The historic upstate […]

Lone Star Park returns to the racing scene after a two-week hiatus due to the coronavirus. (Image: NTRA)

After Abrupt Closure, Lone Star Park Resumes Racing

Two weeks after it abruptly suspended racing due to an employee testing positive for COVID-19, Lone Star Park in Texas resumes racing on Sunday. The track, located in the north Dallas suburb of Grand Prairie, made the announcement almost in secret. It announced the reopening on its Twitter feed, which […]

After losing his first race last month in the Santa Anita Derby, Authentic seeks a return to his San Felipe-winning form in Saturday's Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park. (Image: MyRacehorse.com)

Can the Jersey Shore’s Haskell Be an Authentic Playground for Baffert?

When you’re Bob Baffert and you’ve got a murderer’s row of 3-year-olds looking for marquee races to run in this coronavirus era, the Grade 1 Haskell Stakes almost seems like a gimme. And that’s the scenario Baffert seeks with 4/5 favorite Authentic in Saturday’s marquee race from Monmouth Park. Yet, […]

Because of the coronavirus, Monmouth Park won't have this many fans watching its biggest racing day of the summer. But the New Jersey track will play an active role in an international Pick 5 of all graded stakes races Saturday. (Image: Monmouth Park)

Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 Presents Bettors High Stakes Choices

You have your cross country Pick 4s and Pick 5s, which demand you pick winners from different tracks around the country. But the latest betting novelty for horseplayers takes the Cross Country Pick 5, boosts its class, and takes it international. Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 gives bettors a swing […]

Ny Traffic won't turn heads with blinding speed. But he usually turns exotic bettors into believers. He's the 7/2 third choice to win Saturday's Haskell Stakes. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Gulfstream Park)

Ny Traffic Seeking to Break Out of Pack at Haskell Stakes

Unlike his namesake, Ny Traffic sits under the radar, repeatedly yielding the spotlight to sexier horses and sexier-named trainers. This version of Ny Traffic doesn’t make you late for dinner. And Saturday’s Grade 1 Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park falls right into Ny Traffic’s lane. There’s Bob Baffert’s Authentic as […]

Jockey Martin Garcia and Charlatan are no longer 2020 Arkansas Derby winners. Oaklawn Park stewards stripped the Bob Baffert horse and his filly stablemate, Gamine of their May 2 victories for excessive amounts of lidocaine. (Image: Wesley Hitt/Getty)

Baffert Suspended 15 Days, Horses Disqualified for Positive Drug Tests

Oaklawn Park stewards suspended Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert for 15 days and stripped two of his prize horses of victories for their positive drug tests for excessive amounts of a banned substance. The decisions came down Wednesday, two days after a hearing addressing the excessive amounts of lidocaine […]

Del Mar was forced to close this weekend after 15 jockeys tested positive for COVID-19. The track is revamping its jockeys' room and instituting a travel ban on riders. (Image: Del Mar Thoroughbred Club)

Del Mar ‘Takes Weekend Off’ After 15 Riders Test Positive for COVID-19

Del Mar abruptly canceled its weekend racing card for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after mass testing revealed 15 jockeys are positive for COVID-19. Del Mar Thoroughbred Club CEO Joe Harper said in a statement that in the wake of numerous Southern California-based jockeys testing positive out of the Los Alamitos […]

If you're riding this summer at iconic Saratoga Race Course, you're riding no place else. NYRA placed a travel ban on jockeys -- the latest effort to curb the coronavirus. (Image: Getty)

NYRA Bans Outside Riders From Prestigious Saratoga Meet

In an effort to control the rampaging coronavirus among jockeys, the New York Racing Association took an unprecedented step for its crown-jewel Saratoga meet on Tuesday, closing the meet to out-of-town jockeys. That means only members of the NYRA jockey colony, which currently consists of 22 regular jockeys and three […]

Florent Geroux became the latest high-profile jockey testing positive for the coronavirus. (Image: Pat McDonogh/Courier-Journal)

Florent Geroux Latest High-Profile Jockey Testing Positive for COVID-19

Florent Geroux joined the lengthening list of prominent jockeys testing positive for COVID-19 over the past week, revealing his positive test results on Twitter Tuesday morning. Unlike Martin Garcia, Luis Saez, Victor Espinoza, and Flavien Prat – all of whom tested positive in the last week — Geroux didn’t ride […]

Art Collector's 3 1/2-length victor in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland vaulted him to the front row of Kentucky Derby contenders. His odds to win the Sept. 5 Derby plummeted on every futures board. (Image: Coady Photography)

Art Collector Becomes Hottest Object on Kentucky Derby Futures Board

Winning the Blue Grass Stakes made Art Collector the latest shiny object for Kentucky Derby bettors to focus on as his odds to win the Sept. 5 Run for Roses plunged across the board. On Circa Sports’ Kentucky Derby Futures Board, Art Collector sits at 7/1. He’s now the fourth […]

This is one of Flavien Prat's 98 victories this year, aboard Toinette in the Wilshire Stakes June 20. The West Coast's top jockey tested positive for COVID-19 Sunday. (Image: Benoit Photo/AP)

Flavien Prat is Fifth Los Alamitos Rider Testing Positive for COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak from Los Alamitos’ July 4 card claimed another jockey Sunday when Flavien Prat tested positive for the coronavirus. Prat, the West Coast’s leading rider, just captured the Santa Anita Park riding title. He’s also the fourth jockey from Los Alamitos’ Independence Day card to test positive, joining […]

Rushing Fall and Javier Castellano make a dynamic team. The 5-year-old mare won her second stakes race in as many months Saturday, repeating as Jenny Wiley Stakes champion. (Image: Chelsea Durand/Coglianese Photography)

Rushing Fall Tumbles Into Elite Company With Jenny Wiley Victory

As the 4/5 favorite, Rushing Fall brought no rush of value to bettors in Saturday’s Grade 1 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland. But when the chalky favorite defended her Jenny Wiley title, she brought a record rush to what is already a glittering resume. Rushing Fall became only the third […]

Triple Crown-Winning Rider Victor Espinoza Tests Positive for COVID-19

Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza became the third jockey in four days testing positive for the coronavirus, his agent, Brian Beach, told the Daily Racing Form late Friday night. Espinoza tested himself Friday afternoon at Scripps Hospital in La Jolla. Espinoza has a home in La Jolla he lives at […]