Brian Robin

Muck Rack profile
Secret Oath was the first Oaklawn Park-based horse to win the Kentucky Oaks since Rachel Alexandra in 2009. Now, the filly will attempt to duplicate that remarkable filly's Preakness Stakes win that year. (Image: Coady Photography)

Lukas Rolls the Filly Dice Again, Sends Secret Oath to the Preakness

Secret Oath will attempt to join Swiss Skydiver, Rachel Alexandra, and four other fillies as a Preakness Stakes champion after trainer D. Wayne Lukas confirmed the filly will run in the 147th Preakness Stakes on May 21 at Pimlico Race Course. Lukas went all-in Wednesday afternoon after opening the day […]

Now that he's in the 147th Preakness Stakes, Epicenter will be the presumptive favorite -- even after his Kentucky Derby runner-up finish. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Kentucky Derby Runner-Up Epicenter Heading to Preakness

Epicenter’s connections were looking for a sign that the Kentucky Derby runner-up wanted a piece of the horse — Rich Strike — who upset him last Saturday. After receiving that sign during a Wednesday training session at Churchill Downs, Epicenter will run in the 147th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race […]

Lindsay Schanzer took the reins as senior producer of NBC Sports' Kentucky Derby coverage this year. She became the first woman to produce a Kentucky Derby. (Image: NBC Sports)

NBC Strikes Viral Gold with Replay of Rich Strike’s Kentucky Derby Win

If you watched NBC Sports’ overhead shot of Rich Strike’s remarkable ride to the 148th Kentucky Derby title, you had plenty of amazed company. The replay of that performance, with Larry Collmus’ call, has been viewed more than 38 million times across various social media platforms. When NBC released its […]

Flatter enjoyed a modest racing career, but a stellar stallion career at Claiborne Farm. He was euthanized due to the effects of old age. (Image: Claiborne Farm)

Noted Stallion Flatter Euthanized, Produced Champions in Two Countries

Standout sire Flatter, considered the cornerstone stallion of Kentucky’s famous Claiborne Farm, was euthanized on Monday. He was 23. The farm announced Flatter was euthanized “due to the infirmities of old age.” That ended a nearly 20-year stallion career that far outstripped his racing career. “Flatter was the kind of […]

Fourth-place Kentucky Derby finisher Simplification became the first Preakness Stakes contender arriving at Pimlico Race Course Tuesday. (Image: Jerry Dzierwinski/Maryland Jockey Club)

Simplification First to Arrive for Preakness, Gets Johnny V in the Irons

After finishing fourth in Saturday’s 148th Kentucky Derby, Simplification was the first horse to arrive at Pimlico Race Course for the 147th Preakness Stakes. The Grade 2 Fountain of Youth winner and third-place finisher in the Grade 1 Florida Derby arrived at Pimlico after an 11-hour van ride from Churchill […]

Jack Christopher returned from eight months on the shelf to win the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard. The one-time Kentucky Derby prospect suffered an injury right before the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. (Image: Coady Photography)

Even with Comeback Win, Brown Thinks ‘What If?’ with Jack Christopher

There was Chad Brown with Jack Christopher, standing in the Churchill Downs winner’s circle on the first Saturday in May. Just the way the four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer drew it up with the standout colt. Well, not quite. Brown and Jack Christopher were in the winner’s circle, not for the […]

David Cabrera's biggest victory of the year came aboard Rated R Superstar in the Essex Handicap. The 29-year-old Cabrera survived a brutal spill to win his first Oaklawn Park riding title. Image: Coady Photography)

Cabrera Overcomes Bad Spill to Capture First Oaklawn Park Riding Title

David Cabrera hadn’t ridden since going on the shelf after an April 8 riding accident, yet he hung on from the sidelines to win his first Oaklawn Park riding title by one victory over Francisco Arrieta. Not that Arrieta didn’t make Cabrera sweat it out. When Cabrera suffered head, neck, […]

Epicenter did everything right except win Steve Asmussen his first Kentucky Derby. The 4.10/1 favorite adn Derby runner up is questionable for the Preakness Stakes. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Derby Aftermath: Stunned Asmussen, Preakness Probables

Still trying to process how his Kentucky Derby futility streak hit 24 races, trainer Steve Asmussen was non-committal on whether Derby runner up Epicenter would run the May 21 Preakness Stakes. The two-time Preakness winner was very committal on his level of disbelief at what transpired 50 yards from his […]

Newly minted Kentucky Derby champion Rich Strike and his barn connections are headed next to Pimlico for the Preakness Stakes in 13 days. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Rich Strike trainer Eric Reed Hasn’t Woken Up From Derby Dream

Everything kept going back through Eric Reed’s mind like a never-ending dream, which the trainer of Rich Strike still wasn’t sure about. “I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Reed, still in shock over Rich Strike’s 80/1 shocking victory in the 148th Kentucky Derby. “At 4 this morning, I was wondering […]

Rich Strike (right) passes favorite Epicenter with 50 yards to go to win the 148th Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs. At 80.80/1, Rich Strike pulled off the second-biggest upset in Derby history, trailing only Donegal's 91/1 shocker in 1913. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Rich Strike Bowls Over Rivals in Stunning 80/1 Kentucky Derby Upset

Rich Strike’s trainer, Eric Reed, nearly lost his entire stable in a barn fire. He got Rich Strike – a $30,000 claimer with one career win in seven starts — into the 148th Kentucky Derby with five minutes to spare Friday. When he left Post 21 at Churchill Downs, Rich […]

Secret Oath captured the 148th Kentucky Oaks in impressive, workmanlike fashion. She may run two weeks from now in the Preakness Stakes. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Secret Oath Comes Out of Kentucky Oaks Win Looking at Preakness

The options before Secret Oath – newly minted Kentucky Oaks winner Secret Oath – are plentiful and profitable. And Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said the Preakness Stakes remains one of those options. “I’m going to let a few days go by and then I’ll get with (owner) […]

Taiba is attempting to be only the third horse to win the Kentucky Derby without running as a 2-year-old. Columnist and morning line author Jon White likes his chances. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Racing Veteran White Sees Plenty of Gray in this Kentucky Derby

Jon White wants you to know this Kentucky Derby prognostication stuff can get rather tricky. He once picked Point Given to win the 2001 Derby because he simply was the best horse in the field. Point Given picked the first Saturday in May that year to run the worst race […]

(Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Breaking Down the 2022 Kentucky Derby: Chaos Theory Reigns

Welcome to Kentucky Derby 148, a.k.a. The Chaos Derby. And we’re not talking about the usual infield escapades that happen as the Derby returns to it’s pre-pandemic crowds north of 150,000. Unpredictability? Depth? A Derby where surprises almost wouldn’t be surprising? This edition of America’s most popular race has it […]

In an incredibly deep and talented field, Nest is the 5/2 morning-line favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

From this Kentucky Oaks Grows a Mighty Deep Field

To illustrate the depth of this year’s Kentucky Oaks, we re-introduce Echo Zulu, your reigning 2-Year-Old Champion Filly. She’s undefeated in five races, three of those Grade 1s and one of those, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. At the beginning of 2022, Echo Zulu was being discussed as a superhorse. […]

Morning-line Kentucky Derby favorite Zandon meets all the key speed barometers for a Derby champion. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photograpy

How Does Your Kentucky Derby Horse Measure Up Speed-Wise?

Even for the free-for-all standards of a modern Kentucky Derby, this year’s 148th edition features one of the most wide-open fields in recent memory. So in a race without a clear-cut favorite, where do you draw the line between horses who can contend and those who merely pretend? Where else? […]

Mike Smith and Taiba will attempt to parlay this Santa Anita Derby win into a Kentucky Derby triumph as only the second Derby winner since 1882 to win without racing as a 2-year-old. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Taiba Trying to Take a Shortcut to Kentucky Derby History

The path Taiba is attempting to follow started four years ago when a lightly raced colt with only three starts under his saddle went into the Kentucky Derby as the 5/2 favorite. He “Justified” those odds by winning the Derby en route to the Triple Crown. Jockey Mike Smith remembered […]

Last fall, Jack Christopher was expected to be one of the horses to watch in the Kentucky Derby. Instead, an injury put him into the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile, one of the eight stakes on Churchill Downs' Derby Day card. (Image: Dana WImpfheimer)

Churchill Downs’ Deep Kentucky Derby Undercard Has Familiar Look

In case Saturday’s 148th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs isn’t enough excitement or action for you, the undercard features Jackie’s Warrior against Aloha West in one Grade 1, Shirl’s Speight vs. Tribhuvan in a second Grade 1, Bells the One vs. Just One Time in a third Grade 1 and […]

Happy Jack lost his three Derby preps by a combined 50 lengths. He's one to avoid on your Kentucky Derby tickets. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Kentucky Derby Ticket Tossers: Avoid These Horses on Your Wagers

Ah, the Kentucky Derby exotics. So many choices, so much cash sitting out there waiting to be plucked — if you can find the right long shots to pick. And the right ones to avoid. Building the perfect Derby vertical exotic ticket, be it an exacta, trifecta, or superfecta, is […]

Champion 2-Year-Old Corniche won his first three races for Bob Baffert. He'll win any subsequent ones for Todd Pletcher. (Image: Benoit Photo)

The Exodus Continues: Champion Corniche Goes from Baffert to Pletcher

Eclipse Award winner Corniche became the latest top-shelf runner to move from Bob Baffert’s California barn to Todd Pletcher’s New York base, according to his owners Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner, who campaign as Speedway Stables. The Daily Racing Form first reported Corniche’s move, which came due to Baffert’s 90-day […]

Churchill Downs has horseplayers covered across the gate with a smorgasbord of betting options for Kentucky Oaks/Derby week. (Image: Coady Photography)

Zandon Opens as 3/1 Favorite for 148th Kentucky Derby

Neither Chad Brown nor Steve Asmussen has a Kentucky Derby win on their considerable resumes. They’re a combined 0-for-30 in America’s most-followed race. But, the two are saddling the two morning-line favorites, 3/1 Zandon and 7/2 Epicenter, for Saturday’s 148th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Brown’s Zandon drew Post 10 […]