Bill Heller
PROFILE
Jason Moran/Eclipse Sportswire
ROB ATRAS
IN NEW YORK, HE FOUND A BASEBALL TEAM TO ROOT FOR, THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE AND A GOAT!
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rainer Rob Atras wasn’t born into racing; he was into racing before he was born. His mother didn’t let her pregnancy at the time prevent her from visiting the winner’s circle after her horse won a race at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg. “She has the win picture,” Rob laughed. “She said, ‘You were in my stomach when the picture was taken.’ When I was old enough, I went around the track with her. I was probably five or six. ” Three decades later, Rob is a rising star in New York—a young conditioner steeped in old school horsemanship with an uncanny knack of claiming horses. He was good enough to finish tied for seventh with Brad Cox in the 2021 Saratoga Meet, when he won his first Gr. 1 stakes, the Coaching Club American Oaks, with Maracuja. At the recently concluded Belmont Park summer meet he tied for fifth place with fifteen winners. Rob’s earnings grew from $1.8 million in 2019 to $2 million in 2020 and $3.9 million in 2021. He’s already topped $2 million in the first six months of this year. Rob, who is 37 years old, ranked 37th nationally in earnings last year and is 37th this year through the end of June. He is strengthened by his wife/assistant trainer/best friend Brittney, who is proud of Rob’s horsemanship. Asked why he is successful, she said, “I think because he treats each horse individually. It’s so true—how they train, how their legs are wrapped. Rob is very hands-on. He’s always feeling their legs. He’s really good at reading a condition book. Rob is very realistic about the horses we have and where they need to race to be successful.”
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TRAINERMAGAZINE.COM ISSUE 65