Back at the site of his first graded stakes win, Book'em Danno notched the third of his career, all at Saratoga Race Course, winning the $400,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes (G2) July 19.
Sent off as the 1.40-1 favorite, Book’em Danno faced familiar foes in Mullikin and Nakatomi, and just as he did at Saratoga June 7 in the True North Stakes (G3), the dark bay/brown New Jersey-bred vanquished them.
Book’em Danno and jockey Paco Lopez stalked Damon's Mound, the early longshot pacesetter, hugging the rail with Mullikin just ahead of him to the outside. Lopez took to the outside approaching the quarter pole, and then it was a race between him and Mullikin, who were on even terms at the eighth pole. Book’em Danno took charge just after the sixteenth pole, pulling away to win by 2 1/2 lengths.
Mullikin was second, as he was in the True North, followed by Nakatomi in third.
“The trip was perfect,” Lopez said. “I thought he broke a little off the pace, little lazy for a speed horse, but after like 20 yards he took in the pace. I had a little tight room at the 3 1/2, took him out, when I took him out, he ran good and he just rolled that horse inside the eighth pole.”
Two races earlier, Lopez won the Caress Stakes (G3T) with Future Is Now.
"I think that was one of his best efforts so far,” trainer Derek Ryan said. “Paco worked him out last Sunday, and I put a little bit more speed into him, just to be a little closer, like he was. I had 100% confidence coming in. I wasn't afraid of anybody, but at the same time, it is Saratoga and anything can happen.”
Four-for-four at the Vanderbilt’s six-furlong distance and already a millionaire, Book’em Danno added $220,000 to his earnings for a total of $1,580,425 while bringing his lifetime record to 9-3-1 from 15 starts.
Owned by Atlantic Six Racing, a partnership that purchased him privately before his first race, he was bred by Gregory J. Kilka and Bright View Farm. Book'em Danno is by Bucchero , who stands in New York at Ironhorse Stallions. He is out of the unraced Ghostzapper mare Adorabella.
The 4-year-old has raced four times at Saratoga Race Course, winning three times and finishing third once. In addition to the Vanderbilt and the True North, he also won the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) in June 2024.
“Jay (Briscione) and me and four other guys bought a couple of cheap horses in the early 1980s,” said Jim Scappi, one of the original members and a longtime friend of Atlantic Six managing partner Jay Briscione. “We had a great time. Then we got mortgages and houses and wives and kids. We stopped for 20 years, then in 2019 we bought a horse that made enough money to buy this horse, and here we are.
“Back in the '80s and the '90s, we probably had 10 or 12 horses. Now we have four. This is the least expensive one and the best by far.”
Watching the replay on the infield screen, he shook his head, almost in awe of Book’em Danno’s performance in this race, and in the horse’s career.
“He’s taken us to Riyadh, to Churchill Downs, to Keeneland, to Colonial Downs, to Saratoga,” he said. "It’s amazing.”
