TOBA August Member of the Month

At age five, 2025 champion male sprinter Book'em Danno isn’t losing a step this year. Book’em Danno, co-bred by Gregory J. Kilka and Bright View Farm, won the June 6 True North Stakes (G3) at Saratoga. The 2026 edition of the 6.5-furlong sprint marked the New Jersey-bred gelding’s second consecutive triumph in that race; this year, Book’em Danno posted a ¾-length win over favored Bentornato, who captured last year’s Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1). Kilka wasn’t able to attend, but he watched the race, commenting, “I mean, a lot like all the other races that he’s won very professionally, making his own race, sitting where he needs to be, putting himself in a position and [jockey] Paco [Lopez] helping him do the rest. I mean he’s super-professional and just seems to know where the line is and make sure he gets there in time. So, the horse is very remarkable.” July 17 marks “Book’em Danno Day” at Monmouth Park. That’s Kilka’s home track and the site of the gelding’s next race, the Mr. Prospector Stakes. “Book’em Danno Day” is a fitting honor for the richest-ever New Jersey-bred Thoroughbred. Kilka remarked, “To have a ‘Book’em Danno Day’ at Monmouth Park is beyond comprehension for me. As a kid growing up at Monmouth Park and seeing some of the great horses that passed through there, to have bred a horse here in Jersey that eventually had the accolades to have a day named after it and to be honored in that manner, it’s unbelievable. It’s crazy.” Kilka recalled, “I remember going and seeing jockeys like Rick Wilson, Julie Krone, Herb McCauley, Joe Bravo in his early days and those jockeys being very accessible and giving us goggles. And some kids would get whips after the race, which may or may not have been a great idea, but it was just a great place to go, enjoy the weather, be with your family, see the horses; the whole package was awesome.” Kilka’s growth from fan to breeder was natural. He noted that “it really kind of evolved from being the son of a handicapper to, in my adult life, still handicapping and loving that part of the game, but seeing that there were other angles, now that I had some money in my pocket, to explore through ownership, partnerships, and then eventually getting into breeding and selling horses.” At the 2020 Keeneland January sale, Kilka purchased Book’em Danno’s dam, Adorabella (by Ghostzapper), in foal to Fast Anna, for $14,000. Kilka recalled, “My now-very good friend and racing advisor, Chris Gracie of Gracie Bloodstock, really picked her out. She was an unraced, young filly from Tracy Farmer’s broodmare band. And we thought she had the physical pieces, and it was kind of a gamble with her not being raced and the family kind of being late at that point. We thought it was a good risk to take for the amount of money that we were going to spend and thought she paired up well with Bucchero, both physically and on paper. So, we took a stab, really.” In order to produce Book’em Danno, Kilka and Clear View sent Adorabella to Bucchero. Kilka belonged to the partnership that campaigned that multiple grade 2-winning son of Kantharos. Gracie Bloodstock consigned the Bucchero-Adorabella foal to the 2024 Keeneland Championship sale, where he RNA’ed for $475,000. Book’em Danno now races for Atlantic Six Racing. Gracie Bloodstock later consigned Adorabella, in foal to Medaglia d’Oro, to the 2023 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed sale, where LC Racing purchased her for $550,000. Kilka currently breeds mares by himself and in partnership in New York (at Mountain View Farm), New Jersey (at Bright View Farm), and Virginia (with Gracie); at any given time, his broodmare band numbers between five- and ten-strong. “A young Book’em Danno, he was at Bright View Farm with my partner, Christine Connolly and my kids and I, Mason and Ava, would visit Christine’s farm pretty often because we had some other babies there. Christine runs a very nice operation and had lots of babies during that foaling season and beyond as yearlings. We would visit ‘Danno’ and he always carried himself with some class. He always looked the part of a sort of sprinting type, right? He was compact and always looked strong. There were definitely times out there when I would stand around and just watch the horses for an hour or so or two, whatever it was, kind of daydreaming and observing. And he always seemed to be the center of attention out there. When he moved, everybody sort of moved with him in the pack, so I’m not completely surprised that he’s turned out to be a very classy and fast individual.”