Brian Robin

Muck Rack profile
Justin Mustari became the youngest winner of the National Horseplayers Championship. The 26-year-old Des Plaines, Ill. resident outlasted 563 entries to win the most prestigious handicapping contest in the country. (Image: Horsephotos)

Catching 19/1 Lightning in a Bottle Makes Mustari Youngest NHC Winner

Justin Mustari will remember the name Rose’s Crystal every day for the rest of his life. He’ll remember it every time he walks into his new house and looks at the Eclipse Award on the mantle. And he’ll remember the name of the filly who made him the youngest champion […]

Assistant trainer Laura Moquett, the wife of trainer/co-owner Ron Moquett, was the only one who galloped Whitmore during his storied career. The 8-year-old Champion Sprinter retired Saturday. (Image: Richard Rasmussen/Sentinel-Record)

Popular Champion Sprinter Whitmore Retired from Racing

Popular and petulant sprinter Whitmore was retired from racing on Saturday, ending a remarkable career culminating in his naming as 2020 Champion Sprinter of the Year. Whitmore finished fifth of eight in Saturday’s Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga. Sensing something was wrong with the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion, […]

Firenze Fire bit off more than he could chew, savaging Forego Stakes rival Yaupon in deep stretch. Yaupon survived the sudden savaging, winning as the 2/1 favorite. (Image: Skip Dickstein)

Essential Quality Leads Chalk Parade to Travers Day Winner’s Circle

On a chalky betting day where favorites beat a path to the Saratoga winner’s circle, the New York Racing Association announced an all-sources Travers Day handle of $51,381,515. That came from a paid crowd of 44,507, which generated an on-track handle of $9,406,526. This provided an obvious boost from last […]

Can anyone stop the runaway train that is Essential Quality? Six others try derailing the 4/5 favorite in Saturday's Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga. (Image: Joe Labozzetta/Coglianese Photos/NYRA)

The Travers: Can Anyone Catch History-Making Essential Quality?

Brad Cox and Essential Quality are simultaneously chasing Travers Stakes history and running from it at the same time. This counterintuitive feat illustrates Cox’s training prowess, Essential Quality’s running prowess, and the Travers’ recent prowess as a destroyer of favorites. Cox, who trains the prohibitive 4/5 favorite for Saturday’s headline […]

Letruska has been the most impressive older female horse in 2021, as her last-out victory here in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis illustrates. She is the 6/5 favorite to win her fourth consecutive graded-stakes race in Saturday's Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga. (Image: Coady Photography)

Letruska Brings Formidable Form Into a Deep Personal Ensign Field

Say this for the 2021 Personal Ensign; Letruska may be the clubhouse leader as Champion Older Filly of the Year, but her rivals for that title don’t scare easily. That explains why the Grade 1 Personal Ensign – one of Saratoga’s six Grade 1s on Saturday — features a deep, […]

Last time out at Saratoga, Jackie's Warrior splashed to a 7 1/2-length victory in the Grade 2 Amsterdam. He's the even-money favorite to win Saturday's Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial. (Image: Chelsea Durand/Coglianese Photos)

Jackie’s Warrior, Life Is Good, Drain the Clock: This Jerkens is Wide Open

The H. Allen Jerkens Memorial draws its name from the legendary New York trainer who earned a well-deserved reputation for springing massive upsets. Among Jerkens’ victims were the distinguished likes of Kelso, Buckpasser, Cougar II, and Forego. Then, there was Secretariat. Two Jerkens also-rans defeated the 20th century’s greatest Thoroughbred: […]

One-time A-list 3-year-old Art Collector won the Alydar Stakes at Saratoga for his first win in nearly a year. He travels to West Virginia ,where he's the 5/2 favorite for Friday's Grade 2 Charles Town Classic. (Image: NYRA)

Art Collector Leads the Redemption Brigade into Charles Town Classic

Art Collector is the 5/2 morning-line favorite for Friday’s Grade 2 Charles Town Classic at Hollywood Casino at Charles Races. And yes, it’s strange to read one of 2020’s top 3-year-olds is running in West Virginia and not in Saratoga this weekend. Art Collector’s path to the starting gate for […]

Gamine's balletic stride is illustrated in her 10-length romp in July's Great Lady M Stakes at Los Alamitos. The Champion Female Sprinter of 2020 returns to Saratoga Saturday for the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

Gamine Dances into Saratoga for the Ballerina Stakes

You’ve got an in-form Gamine running a seven-furlong sprint on an Eastern track with a Breeders’ Cup berth on the line. Given what this combination has created in the past, it’s no wonder you’ll find the Champion Female Sprinter of 2020 in a race called the Ballerina. After all, almost […]

The National Horseplayers Championship is a three-day, ballroom blitz of handicapping races from seven tracks. The winner of the prestigious event earns an Eclipse Award and $700,000. (Image: Horsephotos.com/NTRA)

Handicapping’s Best of the Best Ride Into Las Vegas for 2021 NHC

The National Horseplayers Championship begins Friday at Bally’s in Las Vegas with a different vibe, new tracks, and fewer competitors. Changes aside, the biggest handicapping tournament in North America is moving forward 18 months after the 2020 NHC got in just under the COVID wire. Sponsored by the National Thoroughbred […]

Florida Derby winner Known Agenda will begin his stud career in 2022 at Spendthrift Farm. He retired with three wins in eight career races. (Image: Autry Graham Photo/Spendthrift Farm)

Florida Derby Champ Known Agenda Retired to Stud at Spendthrift Farm

Known Agenda, the talented, but temperamental colt, was retired from racing Wednesday. He’ll begin stud duty at Spendthrift Farm in 2022. The farm announced this year’s Florida Derby winner will stand for an initial fee of $10,000. No reason was given for his sudden retirement, but Known Agenda hasn’t run […]

The novel, non-oval Kentucky Downs course offers racing only six days a year. When the meet opens Sept. 5, it will go by the new name "FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs." (Image: Kentucky Downs)

FanDuel to Become Title Sponsor of Kentucky Downs Meet

Kentucky Downs and FanDuel announced a three-year partnership this week that will put the betting platform’s name on the track’s boutique late-summer meet. The six-day meet, which runs Sept. 5-6, 8-9, and 11-12, now goes by the name FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. FanDuel is the parent company of the […]

At 34/1, Lexitonian kicked clear of Special Reserve in deep stretch to win the Grade 1 Vanderbilt last month. The sprinter seeks an encore in Saturday's Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga. (Image: Chelsea Durand/NYRA)

New Grade 1 Champ Lexitonian Seeking Validation in the Forego Stakes

After a career-best, out-of-the-clouds performance, what does Lexitonian do for an encore? How will the enigmatic sprinter follow up his Vanderbilt victory in Saturday’s Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga? And is it possible? Can the 5-year-old sprinter go one better than his best? The Forego is one of six […]

Essential Quality nipped Keepmeinmind to win last month's Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga. The two tangle again in Saturday's Travers Stakes, one of six Grade 1s on Saratoga's Saturday card. (Image: Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo)

Saturday at Saratoga: One of Racing’s Biggest Days of 2021

The names of those racing on Saturday’s Travers Day at Saratoga sound like a Thoroughbred all-star team: Essential Quality, Gamine, Letruska, Tribhuvan, Jackie’s Warrior, Life Is Good, Whitmore, Swiss Skydiver. All of them – and others you may have heard of – are set to run in one of Saratoga’s […]

Controversial Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit may return to the gate for the first time since May 15 at Saturday's Grade 3 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Derby Champion Medina Spirit May Return Saturday for Shared Belief

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who hasn’t run since finishing third in the May 15 Preakness Stakes, could be back this Saturday for the Grade 3 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. According to the Daily Racing Form, the Bob Baffert-trainee’s return is contingent on a Monday workout for the […]

Safe Conduct and Irad Ortiz Jr. turn aside Riptide Rock (back) and David Moran to win the 162nd Queen's Plate at Woodbine Racetrack. The card produced the second-best betting handle in event history. (Image: Michael Burns Photo)

Woodbine Rides Safe Conduct’s Queen’s Plate Win to Strong Handle

Spurred by Safe Conduct’s Queen’s Plate victory, Woodbine Racetrack registered the second-highest wagering handle for Queen’s Plate Day in event history. Bettors wagered $16,122,170 on Sunday’s 13-race card at the suburban Toronto, Ontario, Canada track. That ranked second only to 2018’s Queen’s Plate Day handle of $18,005,973. Meanwhile, it surpassed […]

Tripoli and Tiago Pereira put on a vintage performance in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. Del Mar's flagship race fueled a record day in betting handle at the San Diego-area track. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Del Mar Breaks Previous Daily Handle Record With $36 Million Windfall

Fueled by an eight-figure Jackpot Pick 6 pool, Del Mar set a single-day handle record Saturday, drawing $36,005,613 in wagers. The windfall washed down on Del Mar’s 11-race Pacific Classic card. In doing so, it destroyed the previous record of $25,870,431 set on Pacific Classic day in 2018. Much of […]

Munnyfor Ro put her Woodbine Oaks rivals in the rear-view mirror. She comes back on three weeks rest trying to do the same in the Queen's Plate at Woodbine. (Image: Michael Burns Photo)

The Attards Set a Family Table for This Year’s Queen’s Plate

There’s something of a Kevin Attard feel to this year’s Queen’s Plate, the opening jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown. A Kevin Attard feel that defines flooding the zone. The trainer sends out four horses – nearly a third of the 13-horse field – for Sunday’s Queen’s Plate on Woodbine’s […]

Unraced filly Bold and Bossy ran about two miles on various highways before she was apprehended. The 2-year-old bolted from Ellis Park's first race Saturday. (Image: Sue Hartig and Gerald Summers)

Runaway Filly Escapes Ellis Park for an Impromptu Highway Joyride

Bold and Bossy, an unraced 2-year-old filly, turned U.S. 41 North and Interstate 69 into an impromptu workout track after she broke out of Ellis Park and went for a joyride down the various highways and byways of northern Kentucky. The filly bolted from Ellis Park during the post parade, […]

Express Train and Juan Hernandez captured the San Diego Handicap, considered a prep for Saturday's Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. Express Train is the 3/1 morning-line favorite in a deep, competitive field. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

Pacific Classic Comes In With a Tide of Legitimate Contenders

There isn’t a lot of star power in this year’s Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. What there is, however, is one of Jon White’s more challenging morning-line puzzles. Del Mar’s morning-line author, White found himself staring at one of the most competitive fields he’s faced this summer. Yes, […]