With a third consecutive graded stakes win—this one at the grade 1 level—at Saratoga Race Course, Atlantic Six Racing's Book'em Danno has separated himself as one of the top sprinters in the country. However, that doesn't mean he's a guaranteed starter for the division's feature race: the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1).
"I'm not set against it," trainer Derek Ryan said at his Saratoga barn Aug. 24. "We sort of had a plan all year. We'll see, it could change. I won't say no, I won't say yes."
That beginning-of-the-year plan did not include the trip to Del Mar for the Nov. 1 race, but it's a possibility that those plans could be adjusted after his one-length triumph in the $500,000 Forego Stakes (G1), improving his season record to four wins in five starts. Book'em Danno earned an automatic, fees-paid berth to the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) with his Forego victory, but Ryan said they would choose the Sprint if he went.
The original plans called for a season-ending start in either the $200,000 Vosburgh Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct Racetrack at seven furlongs or the $400,000 Phoenix Stakes (G2) at Keeneland Oct. 3 over six furlongs. Regardless, Ryan confirmed Book'em Danno will enter the starting gate only one more time this year with eyes on a Breeders' Cup appearance at Keeneland in 2026.
"I want him to last," Ryan said about the 4-year-old Bucchero gelding. "I want to make the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland. How we get there, I don't know. But we'd like to make it to Keeneland."
No matter where he runs to close out the season, the thing that is certain is Book'em Danno will give it his all. Considered a laid-back horse in the mornings, the New Jersey-bred has a competitive fire in him during the races.
"You never think of him when you gallop him in the mornings because he's so laid back," Ryan said. "For some reason, when that bell rings, he perks up."
Ryan also credited much of the gelding's success to jockey Paco Lopez, who has ridden Book'em Danno in each start this year. Lopez had ridden his Fast Anna half sister, Girl Trouble, for trainer Butch Reid and began "hounding" Ryan to ride the horse after he was out of town for Book'em Danno's debut.
When Lopez visited Tampa Bay Downs to ride this winter, he asked Ryan if the gelding was working and arrived at 6 a.m. the next morning to breeze him.
"I said, 'Well, he's that dedicated to ride him, I gotta put him on him,'" Ryan said. "It worked out; he's been on him ever since."
Should the hard-knocking horse bypass the Breeders' Cup, there is a strong possibility he could get overlooked as the champion male sprinter of 2025 when Eclipse Award ballots are counted. Ryan is hopeful, however, that voters will recall the incredible campaign he had at Saratoga with victories in the True North Stakes (G3), Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes (G2), and Forego.
"If he doesn't get it off his last three races, then there's something wrong with their system," Ryan said. "He's won three races at Saratoga; that's very hard. What more can he do?"
Bred in New Jersey by Gregory Kilka and Bright View Farm, Book'em Danno made a bit of history Saturday, surpassing Hall of Famer and dual Eclipse champion Open Mind as the all-time highest earning New Jersey-bred with $1,855,425 in the bank.
Patch Adams Likely to Target Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile
An emerging star around one turn is Patch Adams, who added a second consecutive grade 1 triumph at the Spa as he rallied up the rail to win the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1) by a nose over Captain Cook.
The son of Into Mischief showed his talent early, breaking his maiden at second asking by 10 1/2 lengths under wraps, finishing just .33 off the Churchill Downs seven-furlong track record.
"He's always been a good workhorse," an impressed trainer, Brad Cox, said Sunday morning. "After he ran once, we saw the lightbulb go off, and he became a really good workhorse."
The Breeders' Cup Sprint and Dirt Mile are both on the table for Cox and owners WinStar Farm and CHC. Cox said they will have discussions as to which race is the best fit, but right now he is leaning toward stretching out for the two-turn dirt mile rather than cutting back to the six-furlong sprint.
"I thought if (the Jerkens) was a mile, he could have stayed on and kept going," Cox said.
The colt's two starts around two turns represent his only off-the-board finishes in seven starts, running fourth in both the Southwest Stakes (G3) and Tampa Bay Derby (G2). However, Cox believes the colt is more mature now and attributes those defeats to not breaking his best and putting himself in a poor early position.
"He's improved a lot since he had other opportunities going two turns," Cox said. "I think he's got another move forward in him, I really believe that."
Patch Adams also seemed to thrive with the spacing of his last two starts, taking the Jerkens 11 weeks after the Woody Stephens Stakes (G1). Cox said he emerged from Saturday's effort a bit tired, but has always stayed sound throughout his career. He now has 10 weeks until the Breeders' Cup.
"He showed yesterday he could run well fresh," Cox said. "(We'll) probably go straight from here to the Breeders' Cup."
