Leading 3-year-old sprinter Book'em Danno returns to Saratoga Race Course on August 24, aiming for another Grade 1 win in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes (G1). The Atlantic Six Racing-owned star has been a model of consistency, winning six of his eight career starts and never finishing worse than second. His victories include five stakes, highlighted by the Grade 1 Woody Stephens Stakes on June 8.
Trained by Derek Ryan, the Bucchero gelding comes into the race off a narrow win in the Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 19. The victory in that six-furlong race kept Book'em Danno undefeated at distances of seven furlongs or shorter. Ryan also cross-entered him in the Robert Hilton Memorial Stakes at Charles Town on August 23, but after weighing options, the decision was made to ship him to Saratoga.
Looking ahead, Ryan has bigger plans for Book'em Danno, eyeing the 2025 Saudi Cup (G1), a $20 million race. Ryan believes the sprinter can stretch out to 1 1/8 miles for the one-turn contest at King Abdulaziz Racecourse. Earlier this year, Book'em Danno narrowly lost the Saudi Derby (G3) by a head to international standout Forever Young, who went on to win the UAE Derby (G2) and finish third in the Kentucky Derby (G1).
Book'em Danno is one of three Grade 1 winners in Saturday’s expected field of 11. Joining him are Del Mar Futurity winner Prince of Monaco and Champagne Stakes victor Timberlake. Trained by Bob Baffert, Prince of Monaco was a close runner-up to Book'em Danno after a troubled start. "We knew he was a good horse early on," Baffert said of the son of champion sprinter Speightstown. "He’s been showing it in both his morning and afternoon performances."
Timberlake, trained by Brad Cox, has shifted from the classic trail to sprinting after a third-place finish in the Haskell Stakes (G1) on July 20 at Monmouth. "We realised a mile-and-an-eighth isn’t his ideal distance," Cox said. "He’s a very good horse, and I think returning to one-turn races is where he excels."
Other top contenders include World Record, who dominated the Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at Saratoga on July 26, and Speak Easy, an emerging talent who won a Spa allowance on July 27. Tampa Bay Derby (G3) winner Domestic Product is also in the mix, coming off a 7 1/2-length romp in the Dwyer Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct on July 6. Jockey Flavien Prat, who has ridden four of the Jerkens contenders in their last starts, retains the mount on Domestic Product.