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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For $14,000, Jersey Breeders Bought a ‘Dream Come True’

(Story courtesy of The Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey)

New Jersey-based breeder Greg Kilka knew the odds were not in his favor when he arrived at the 2020 Keeneland January Sale. A small-time owner and breeder with a modest budget, what chance did he have of coming home with a horse that could be life-changing? He was playing the lottery.

“I didn't have unlimited resources,” he said.

What he did have was $14,000, what it cost to buy an unraced mare named Adorabella (Ghostzapper) in foal to Fast Anna (Medaglia d'Oro). It was the only horse he bought at the sale.

Fast forward some three years later and Adorabella's first two foals are both stakes winners and her third, a yearling colt by Classic Empire just sold for a sales-topping $135,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Fall Yearling Sale. All three are New Jersey-breds.

“People may think we're overnight successes,” Kilka said. “But my wife and I have been putting money into the sport for some 15 years. But never have we had anything like this.”

Kilka arrived at the sale with bloodstock agent Chris Gracie. They looked at dozens of horses, hoping to find that diamond in the rough that everyone else misses. Hip 945 caught their attention. There wasn't a lot to go on. She was bred by Tracy Farmer but never made it to the races. Her dam, Alydorable (Arch) was 1-for-3 during her brief career and finished third in the Revidere S.

“Physically, she was beautiful,” Kilka said. “There was nothing we could see that was wrong with her when we purchased her. Chris went through lot of mares on my behalf. He liked this one physically and thought she could be a productive broodmare. Looking at her family, he thought there was some upside.”

Kilka said he had no idea why Adorabella had never raced. It turns out she had the type of niggling problems that keep a lot of horses from making it to the races.

According to Joe Miller, who helped manage the racing and breeding operations of Tracy Farmer, Adorabella was sent to Mark Casse to prepare for her debut but came down with some ankle issues.

“We felt like we'd be better off breeding her because she was going to struggle to make it to the races,” Miller said. “Now I feel embarrassed that we sold her. Fortunately, Tracy still has the rest of the family. He's pressing on with the family, so, hopefully, they'll keep breeding stakes winners out of Adorabella.”

Kilka teamed up with Christine Connelly of Bright View Farm and they are the co-breeders of the Fast Anna foal, which they decided to sell at auction. Named Girl Trouble (Fast Anna), she sold for a mere $15,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton Midatlantic Fall Yearling Sale. The buyers were Swilcan Stable LLC and LC Racing and they turned her over to top Midlantic trainer Butch Reid. She's gone 5-for-13 and has won two stakes, both at Parx, the Future Stars Filly Division S. and the Parx Futurity.

Kilka and Connelly were off to a fast start with Adorabella, but it would only get better.

Kilka had been part of a partnership that raced Bucchero (Kantharos) and was eager to give the stallion a try. He didn't know at the time that Bucchero would become a rising star among stallions. From his first two crops to race, he's had 50 winners (61% winners to starters, below only Army Mule and well ahead of horses like Justify and Good Magic. He's had three stakes winners and eight total stakes horses from modest books of mares.

“I probably wouldn't have been shrewd enough to breed her to Bucchero, who's off to a phenomenal start as a stallion” Miller said. “More power to them. They've done a great job managing her.”

The mating of Bucchero and Adorabella produced Book'em Danno, named for Steve McGarrett's go-to closing line in the old Hawaii Five-O series. This time Kilka and Connelly decided to sell the foal privately and he was purchased by Atlantic Six Racing LLC., which is comprised of a group of friends who are residents of the Jersey Shore.

Trained by Derek Ryan, Book'em Danno broke his maiden on Aug. 2 at Monmouth, besting a field of Jersey-breds by 9 1/2 lengths. Believing his horse was ready for a tougher challenge, Ryan entered him back against open company in the Smoke Glacken S. at Monmouth, which he won by two lengths.

That had the connections thinking Breeders' Cup and they wheeled Book'em Danno back in the Oct. 8 Futurity S. at Aqueduct for what was to be his turf debut. The race was a “Win and You're In” for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint, but things took a wrong turn when the race was rained off the grass.

That didn't prove to be a problem on the racetrack as Book'em Danno dominated, winning by 6 1/2 lengths. But because the race came off the turf it was no longer a Win and You're In race, so “Danno” will not be headed to Santa Anita. It was also downgraded from a Grade III to a listed race.

 

 

“Maybe that was a blessing in disguise, Ryan said. “The Breeders' Cup race is at five furlongs and that might be too short for him.”

Ryan now plans to run Book'em Danno in the Nov. 5 Nashua S., run on the dirt at one mile at Aqueduct.

“We plan to stretch him out now,” Ryan said. “It's a one-turn mile and I don't think that will give him any trouble. He'll handle the distance. He's a very laid-back horse. He switches himself off and then when you call on him he's there. I'd like to try him on the grass at some point. He's bred for it. I think if that race stayed on the grass the result would have been the same.”

Should Book 'em Danno win the Nashua he'll join the conversation when it comes to hopefuls for the 2024 GI Kentucky Derby. But Ryan isn't ready to look that far ahead. He said the Nashua will be the gelding's last start of the year. He will then ship to Tampa Bay Downs and gear up for his 3-year-old campaign.

For Kilka and Connelly, the best should be yet to come. The $135,000 they picked up when selling the Classic Empire–Adorabella foal was their first real payday. (The yearling was bought by the same connections that own Girl Trouble). The next could come as soon as Nov. 7–two days after the Nashua–as Adorabella has been supplemented to the Fasig-Tipton November Sale (hip 261). She sells from the Gracie Bloodstock consignment in foal to Medaglia d'Oro, carrying one bred like the aforementioned Girl Trouble.

So what did Kilka really get for his $14,000?

“A dream come true,” he said. “An absolute dream come true.”

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Classic Empire Colt Tops Fasig Midlantic Opener

A $135,000 Classic Empire half-brother to a pair of recent stakes winners set the pace as the third hip through the ring during the first of two sessions of Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic Fall Yearlings Sale Monday and maintained that position throughout the afternoon.

At the end of trade, a total of 91 head had changed hands for gross receipts of $2,212,500. The average was $24,313, down from $27,222 during last year's corresponding session; while the median also dipped, from $14,000 last year to $11,500. The buyback rate was 19.5%–not far off the 18.5% it was 12 months ago.

This year's catalogue of 412 yearlings is down from the 526 it was in 2022. The opening session of 124 offerings, with a 3:00 p.m. start time, will be followed Tuesday by a longer session that begins at 11:00 a.m.

Glenn Bennett's LC Racing signed for the day's top two lots, the aforementioned New Jersey-bred Classic Empire colt consigned by Gracie Bloodstock, agent; and hip 116, a $130,000 son of leading freshman sire Maximus Mischief. The latter, a Pennsylvania-bred, was consigned by Marshall W. Silverman, agent.

LC Racing co-owns the session topper's MSW half-sister Girl Trouble (Fast Anna), and co-campaigned Grade II winner Maximus Mischief, who was acquired in the same Timonium, MD sales ring as a juvenile.

While five of the session's top six lots were colts, they were somewhat more diverse in their origins, with the breeding programs of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland and Minnesota all represented.

Kilka and Connelly Cash in Early

A colt by Classic Empire provided an early jolt to the proceedings in Timonium Monday, as the well-related New Jersey-bred, consigned by Chris Gracie's Gracie Bloodstock as hip 3, was hammered down to LC Racing LLC for what was ultimately a session-topping $135,000.

Bred by Greg Kilka in partnership with Christine Connelly's Bright View Farm, the Apr. 29 foal is the third out of unraced Adorabella (Ghostzapper), a half-sister to 2022 stakes winner Alydiva (Quality Road) from the family of GSW/MGISP Gastronomical.

Kilka and Connelly paid just $14,000 for Adorabella at the 2020 Keeneland January sale, and the aforementioned black-type earned by her half-sister was certainly not the most noteworthy of updates the mare has gotten since then. The Fast Anna filly Adorabella was carrying at the time, who brought $15,000 at this auction in 2021, blossomed into multiple runaway Parx stakes winner and $283,000-plus earner Girl Trouble (Fast Anna). Adorabella's second foal is the flashy juvenile Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who crushed fellow Jersey-breds by 9 1/2 lengths first out at Monmouth for Atlantic Six Racing and trainer Derek Ryan in August before adding the open Smoke Glacken S. back at the Shore last month.

“I think it aligned with expectations. We've struck it rich, so to speak, with this mare that Chris Gracie picked out for us a few years ago,” said Kilka. “The mare, Adorabella, is throwing really nice babies and they all kind of have a similar way about them–they're all smart, they all walk very well, and now it has translated to the racetrack with the first two babies being Girl Trouble and Book'em Danno. This one's very similar to those.”

Kilka is a shareholder in Book'em Danno's young Florida-based sire, and was acquiring mares for Bucchero at the time.

“Chris picked the mare out,” Kilka said. “The page was a little light, but it was a young and active family and Chris suggested taking a shot. She's turned out to be a great purchase… Initially we acquired a few mares [for Bucchero], both with Chris and some I did on my own–the ones I did with Chris have been the most successful. We thought she aligned really well with Bucchero and we wanted to support the stallion in his first couple seasons. [Book'em Danno] has turned out to be very good so far.”

Book'em Danno was solid privately as a yearling after Girl Trouble had broken her maiden, but before she successfully stepped into stakes company. While Kilka and Connelly hadn't fully been able to cash in on Adorabella's production prowess as sellers until Monday, Kilka was quick to dismiss the notion that seeing Book'em Danno's success on the track might be bittersweet.

“It's all positive feelings; this is not an easy game,” he said. “We bred the horse to sell him, and we thought he would be a nice horse–you never know how nice they're going to be–but there are no regrets. We're happy to see the current ownership group having success with him. They're a group of Jersey guys and I'm happy to see that.”

Kilka and Connelly have set themselves up for further financial gain down the road, as they leveled up significantly from a stud fee perspective in choosing Adorabella's most recent mate, Medaglia d'Oro, who commanded a fee of $100,000 this past season.

“We have no plans to sell the mare as of now, although there have been inquiries. I guess for the right inquiry it's always possible,” Kilka said. “We'll see what happens with this Medaglia d'Oro baby and go from there.”

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