Book'em Danno begins Breeders' Cup push in True North
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Through the late spring and summer of 2025, Book’em Danno was the dominant sprinter at Saratoga, winning three consecutive graded stakes en route to winning an Eclipse Award as champion sprinter.
To reach the same year-end objective, there will be variations on the itinerary in coming months, according to trainer Derek Ryan. A start at Monmouth Park in July is under strong consideration, part of a plan to have Book’em Danno on course for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Oct. 31 at Keeneland. Book’em Danno did not start in the 2025 BC Sprint at Del Mar.
There is at least one scheduled Saratoga stop for Book’em Danno along the way – Saturday’s Grade 3 True North Stakes at six furlongs. Last year, Book’em Danno won the seventh stakes of his career in the True North. He later won the Grade 2 Alfred Vanderbilt in July and the Grade 1 Forego in August at Saratoga.
To gain career stakes win No. 10 on Saturday, Book’em Danno will need a championship-caliber performance against a field that includes Bentornato and Imagination, who were first and second in the 2025 BC Sprint at Del Mar, and the improving 5-year-old Illuminare.
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On April 4, in his first start this year, Book’em Danno finished second by a nose to Point Dume in the Grade 2 Carter Stakes at seven furlongs at Aqueduct. Ryan insists he is better prepared for the $400,000 True North.
“I didn’t have him cranked 100 percent,” Ryan said of preparation for the Carter. “He missed a work three weeks out. He’s cranked now.”
Since the Carter, the 5-year-old Book’em Danno has been on the go. He was sent briefly to a Florida training center, where he worked a half-mile on turf in late April. Book’em Danno has had three May works at Ryan’s Monmouth base.
Book’em Danno is one of two of the 2025 champions racing at Saratoga this week, along with Nitrogen, the champion 3-year-old filly who was entered in Friday’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes for fillies and mares.
To retain his sprint championship, Book’em Danno is tentatively scheduled to run in the Mr. Prospector Stakes at six furlongs on July 17 at Monmouth. The Forego Stakes on Aug. 29 is another option.
A start at Monmouth has appeal this year because “the guys that own him are local” to the New Jersey track, Ryan said.
“The main thing is to get to the Breeders’ Cup,” Ryan said.
Ryan rejected a trip to California for the 2025 BC Sprint, arguing that the Del Mar track favored speed. Book’em Danno tends to run as a stalker. Seven months later, Ryan’s opinion has not wavered. Bentornato led throughout the BC Sprint.
“I didn’t want to go to Del Mar,” he said. “It was a speed-favoring track. After I watched the race, I was glad I didn’t go.”
For Ryan, Book’em Danno is the premier horse in his stable. His presence “makes it easier to get up in the morning,” Ryan said.
In 2009, the barn was led by Musket Man, who won four stakes at Hawthorne and Tampa Bay Downs, including the Grade 2 Illinois Derby. Musket Man was second in the Grade 1 Carter and Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap the following year.
Book’em Danno has won 10 of 17 starts and earned $1,915,425. He has won stakes at five tracks and finished second in what has become a remarkable running of the Group 3, $1.5 million Saudi Derby going a mile in February 2024.
Book’em Danno finished a neck behind Forever Young, the winner of the 2025 BC Classic and the champion older male of 2025. Bentornato was third.
“It’s rare in the business that we’re still going,” Ryan said of the trio. “They’re three of the top horses.”
A win Saturday would push Book’em Danno past $2 million in career earnings. From Ryan’s perspective, the 5-year-old should have an even better record.
“It could be 14 of 17,” he said. “There were a couple of races when he got beat a neck or a head.
“He’s a just a genuine horse that brings his ‘A’ game.”