After Romping in Pasco, Jersey-Bred Star Book ’em Danno on His Way to Saudi Derby

Bred in New Jersey, Book 'em Danno (Bucchero) is a 3-year-old, has been beaten only once in five starts, has won three stakes and is coming off a career-best effort when beating up on five inferior rivals in the Jan. 13 Pasco S. at Tampa Bay Downs. With most owners and trainers, to have a horse like that would mean they'd be hyper-focused on getting to the GI Kentucky Derby. But not trainer Derek Ryan or the partnership that races under the name of Atlantic Six Racing LLC. They're headed to Saudi Arabia for the $1.5-million G3 Saudi Derby on Feb. 24. The Kentucky Derby is not under consideration.

“The Saudi Derby is a one-turn mile, he's a gelding, there's a lot of money,” Ryan said. “I have no Derby dreams. I've been down that road before and it didn't do me any good. I think the Derby is overrated, but that's just me. We were never really considering the Derby trail. The Derby trail, you always have to make works, make races. You put the horse under a lot of pressure.”

Atlantic Six Racing LLC is made up of six friends who reside on the Jersey Shore. They are Frank Camassa, Jeff Resnikoff, Mark Rubenstein, James Rubenstein, Jim Scappi and Jay Briscione. It was Mark Rubenstein who came up with the name Book'em Danno, which is what Steve McGarrett said at the end of each episode of the television show “Hawaii Five-O” after nailing a guilty criminal.

The group never had the type of money needed to buy a highly rated horse at the sales, but did have some luck with a high-priced claimer named Counterfeitcurency (Currency Swap), who made nearly $200,000. That gave them enough money to look around for some younger horses and an advisor pointed them in the direction of Book 'em Danno, who was being shopped around by his breeders, Greg Kilka and Christine Connelly of Bright View Farm. There was not a lot to go on. Book 'em Danno is the second foal out of Adorabella (Ghostzapper) who never raced. The first foal had just broken her maiden when Atlantic Six privately purchased Book 'em Danno and did so by just a half length in a slow time. But she turned out to be a runner. Named Girl Trouble (Fast Anna), she has won two stakes, the Future Stars Filly Division S. and the Parx Futurity.

So the team was optimistic when Book'em Danno made his first start and won a maiden race for Jersey-breds by 9 1/2 lengths.

“He always acted like a nice horse,” Ryan said. “I don't crank horses up to win first time out because unless you really have a superstar, there's no place to run them. Nowadays, if you break your maiden the only races available to you are stakes race. I only had him 70% right for that first race, which told me I had a good one.”

He returned a month later and beat open company in the Smoke Glacken S. at Monmouth and followed that up with a win in the Futurity at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet. He then ran well in defeat when second in the Nashua S. at Aqueduct.

Atlantic Six and Ryan weren't the only ones cheering Book'em Danno along. Kilka bought Adorabella for $14,000 at the 2020 Keeneland January Sale. They sold Girl Trouble for just $15,000 and probably didn't break the bank when selling Book'em Danno. But their rewards were about to come. They sold the third foal, a colt by Classic Empire, at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearlings sale for $135,000. They then sold Adorabella for $550,000 at Fasig-Tipton November. She was believed to be in foal to Medaglia d'Oro at the time, but the foal was aborted.

After the defeat in the Nashua, Ryan and the owners began to formulate their plans for Book'em Danno's 3-year-old campaign. Ryan confirmed that he wanted no part of the Derby. He had started one horse in the race in Musket Man (Yonaguska), who finished third in 2009.

With Book'em Danno being a gelding and possibly a horse who would prefer one turn, Ryan wanted to pick out spots with big purses that would fit the gelding's style. Even before the Pasco, he had set his sights on the Saudi Derby.

But first the Pasco. It was not a particularly strong field and Book'em Danno was sent off at odds on 1-10. Soft spot or not, he could not have won any easier. With Samuel Marin aboard, he inched up to the leaders while four wide on the turn. Marin never seemed to ask his horse for his best run, but he nonetheless drew off in the stretch to win by 12 1/2 lengths.

“After the race I had to pinch myself,” Briscione said. “It would have been one thing if he won by a length or something, but for him to draw off the way he did and win so easily. That was something. He moves somewhat effortlessly. It's very exciting for all of us. We thought he'd run good but that was crazy what he did.”

At the invitation of the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia, Ryan was planning to hop on a plane to Riyadh Jan. 17 so that he could get the lay of the land before sending the horse over.

“This is a great position to be in,” Briscione said. “We're a little group and we don't have the experience some of the big groups have had, but we're always trying to figure out what's best for the horse. There are rewards and risks. The reward in Saudi is the money. The distance seems to suit him. The only issue is that once you come back, you'll probably need about three months before you're ready to race. That's ok if you run good. If you don't, it can be a problem. But who would have thought we'd ever be going to Saudi Arabia. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance. It's a lot of fun. It's also a little nerve-wracking. We couldn't be more excited about this.”

The Saudi Derby won't be easy. Horses from 10 countries have been nominated and an American contingent could include horses from the stables of Christophe Clement, Brad Cox, Ken McPeek, Rick Dutrow, Brendan Walsh, Steve Asmussen, John Sadler, Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher. All have at least one horse nominated.

But Book'em Danno is not to be underestimated.

“You can never take anything for granted in this sport,” Ryan said. “But we think we're in a great position.”

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Book’em Danno Back To Winning Ways in Pasco

Book'em Danno (Bucchero) was a tough-luck loser of Aqueduct's one-mile Nashua S. when last seen 2 1/2 months ago, but atoned for that first career defeat in no uncertain terms with a thoroughly dominating victory in Saturday's Pasco S. at Tampa.

Hovering around 2-5 and 1-2 for the bulk of the wagering, the tote showed 1-9 when the gates flew and the New Jersey-bred was content to take back off the pace of debut winner Banded Rocket (Malibu Moon) and El Principito (Accelerate), who matched motors through decent fractions of :22.53 and :45.75. Kept intentionally wide by Samuel Marin, who had ridden Book'em Danno to his state-bred maiden romp and the Smoke Glacken S. at Monmouth last summer, the gelding sauntered up to the leaders while five deep around the turn and had his head in front as GIII Iroquois S. winner West Saratoga (Exaggerator) tried to make a race of it up the fence. But Book'em Danno quickly widened in upper stretch and ran up the score while under a long hold in the final sixteenth of a mile. A pair of seemingly frivolous objections from the connections of West Saratoga and El Principito were ultimately dismissed.

Breeder Greg Kilka purchased the unraced Adorabella for $14,000 in foal to Fast Anna at the 2020 Keeneland January Sale, and that foal, Girl Trouble, did her part in improving the page with a pair of juvenile stakes scores in 2022. When factoring in Book'em Danno's emergence late last year, the family became even more valuable, as the now-juvenile colt by Classic Empire topped the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic October sale on LC Racing's bid of $135,000 and that same operation added Adorabella to the fold when paying $550,000 for the mare in foal to Fast Anna's sire Medaglia d'Oro after she was supplemented to the Fasig-Tipton November Sale.

Book'em Danno holds an entry for the $1.5-million G3 Saudi Derby in Riyadh Feb. 24, and connections have publicly expressed an interest in the 1600-meter contest. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

PASCO S., $50,000, Tampa Bay Downs, 1-13, 3yo, 7f, 1:23.26, ft.
1–BOOK'EM DANNO, 124, g, 3, Bucchero–Adorabella, by Ghostzapper. O-Atlantic Six Racing LLC; B-Gregory J Kilka & Bright View Farm (NJ); T-Derek S Ryan; J-Samuel Marin. $30,000. Lifetime Record: 5-4-1-0, $260,625. *1/2 to Girl Trouble (Fast Anna), MSW, $283,490.
2–West Saratoga, 124, c, 3, Exaggerator–Mo Wicked, by Uncle Mo. ($11,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-Harry L Veruchi; B-Two Hearts Farm II LLC (KY); T-Larry W Demeritte. $10,000.
3–Rathmore, 118, c, 3, Cupid–Temperature Runnin, by Stormin Fever. O-The Three Colleens Stable; B-Heather Smullen (FL); T-Thomas Albertrani. $5,000.
Margins: 12HF, NK, 1HF. Odds: 0.10, 4.50, 13.40.
Also Ran: El Principito, Bati King, Banded Rocket. Scratched: Crazy Mason.

 

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NJ-Bred Keeps Streaking in Futurity

Flashy and exciting New Jersey-bred Book'em Danno took his talents out of his home state Sunday to remain unbeaten in the rained-off Futurity S., which originally carried Grade III status as well as a “Win and You're In” berth to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint before the surface change. The Breeders' Cup will conduct a review of the race Monday to determine if an automatic invitation will be extended to the winner.

A 9 1/2-length debut romper against fellow state-breds at Monmouth Aug. 12, the dark bay gelding led home a 1-2-3 for NJ-breds in the open Smoke Glacken S. Sept. 9. He was further flattered when runner-up Sea Streak (Sea Wizard) ventured to Ozone Park last weekend to best a salty group of local maidens, and loomed very large here when the turf question was taken out of the equation.

Away a touch awkwardly from his outside draw, Book'em Danno sat perched out wide and within striking distance as Works for Me posted splits of :22.09 and :45.27. The chalk ranged up ominously entering the straight, leveled off and widened at will.

“He broke well and I had a good trip. Two horses went to the front and I was just stalking them from off the pace. When I asked him to go, he responded very well,” said winning pilot Jose Ortiz, fresh off a pair of Grade I scores Saturday at Keeneland.  “I rode him like much the best and he was much the best. I worked him in the morning and he showed in the morning that he's a good horse. I was very confident. I got a great post today and he just responded very well for me when I asked him. He's a nice horse.”

Despite Book'em Danno's success so far sprinting, as well as his sire's, trainer Derek Ryan said his trainee should stretch out: “He'll go as far as I want him to go. I had a horse a few years ago–[MGSW and 2009 GI Kentucky Derby and GI Preakness S. runner-up] Musket Man (Yonaguska)–and everyone told me [about stretching out], 'he's six furlongs, he can't do that.' You train them to do whatever you want.”

As for trying the one-mile Nashua S. Nov. 5, Ryan said, “We'll see what we're going to do with him. We might try the Nashua, but I don't like to over-run a young 2-year-old. Next year is a long year. I might be tempted to go a little farther, who knows.”

Pedigree Notes:

Book'em Danno is one of three black-type winners for his young sire (by Kantharos), and will be his first graded stakes winner should the American Graded Stakes Committee reinstate the race's original grade.

It was a very productive week for the winner's dam Adorabella, whose yearling colt by Classic Empire topped the first session of Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic Fall Yearlings sale. Read more here.

Sunday, Aqueduct
FUTURITY S.*, $145,500, Belmont The Big A, 10-8, 2yo, 6f (off turf), 1:09.47, ft.
1–BOOK'EM DANNO, 122, g, 2, by Bucchero
               1st Dam: Adorabella, by Ghostzapper
               2nd Dam: Alydorable, by Arch
               3rd Dam: Esprit d'Escalier, by Diesis (GB)
O-Atlantic Six Racing, LLC; B-Gregory J Kilka & Bright View
Farm (NJ); T-Derek S. Ryan; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $82,500. Lifetime
Record: 3-3-0-0, $200,625. *1/2 to Girl Trouble (Fast Anna),
MSW, $283,490. Click for the free Equineline catalogue-style
pedigree.
2–Works for Me, 120, c, 2, Daddy Long Legs–Bella's Game, by
Soldat. 1ST BLACK TYPE. O/B-KatieRich Farms, Chris Connors &
Larry Appel (NY); T-Joseph R. Lee. $30,000.
3–Where's Chris, 120, c, 2, Twirling Candy–Sea Queen, by
Lemon Drop Kid. ($80,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP; $20,000 2yo '23
OBSAPR). 1ST BLACK TYPE. O-Nice Guys Stables; B-The
Neuman Group (KY); T-Richard E. Dutrow, Jr. $18,000.
Margins: 6HF, HD, 4 3/4. Odds: 0.40, 5.00, 4.70.
Also Ran: Jimmythetooth, Ruddy Buddy. Scratched: Apollo Ten, Lamorna, Please Advise. *Automatically downgraded when rained off the turf. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

 

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