It's been a long time since anyone has seen the New Jersey-bred star Book'em Danno (Bucchero). He hasn't run since winning the GI Forego Stakes at Saratoga Aug. 23. There were rumblings that he would run in the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland, but he sat that one out. He also did not run in the GI Cygames Breeders' Cup Sprint, where he likely would have been the favorite. Passing on an appearance at the World Championships is something that could cost him some Eclipse Award votes.
The 4-year-old is currently in Ocala and his connections want him to have a break of about two-and-a-half months before returning him to training. They do not yet have any definite plans yet for the 2026 season, but it appears that a trip to Dubai is where he might kick off his campaign.
“We have no definite plans as to where to go,” said Jay Briscione, who heads the Atlantic Six ownership group. “I have had conversations with the people in Saudi Arabia and we have nominated him for two races there, including the [G3] Riyadh Dirt Sprint. There's more of a chance that he will go in the [Mar. 28 running of the G1] Dubai Golden Shaheen.”
Briscione added that if they choose the Golden Shaheen that Book'em Danno would begin the year in a prep for that race–the G3 Mahab Al Shimaal Stakes Feb. 28.
Though Book'em Danno ran second in the 2024 G3 Saudi Derby, Briscione realizes there is nothing easy about going over to the Middle East.
“There is a lot of money out there, but you are rolling the dice,” he said.
He added that the 2026 Breeders' Cup Sprint is something that is definitely on their schedule.
“It's not set in stone, but if he stays together and has the same kind of year we would go, working backwards, the Breeders' Cup, the Phoenix, one of those races at Saratoga and maybe that Keeneland race in the spring [the GIII Commonwealth Stakes]. A lot would depend on whether or not we got to Dubai. It won't be a 10-race campaign. He just runs too hard to do that.”
Book'em Danno won the GI Woody Stephens Stakes at Saratoga as a 3-year-old in 2024 and two other stakes, but Briscione admits he wasn't expecting the horse to have the kind of year in 2025 that he had before. He started his year off by winning a restricted stakes at Colonial Downs and then finished fourth, beaten just a neck, against a loaded field in the GI Churchill Downs Stakes. He would not lose again this year.
Book'em Danno was sensational at Saratoga, winning three straight graded stakes there: the GIII True North Stakes, the GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes and the Forego.
“What he did at Saratoga, no one will ever do again because it was an unusual year up there with a different schedule, which allowed them to card three graded sprint stakes,” the owner said. “Saratoga is the meet of meets and he ran there for three consecutive months and won a Grade III, a Grade II and a Grade I, all of them pretty matter of factly.”
After he tore apart the competition at Saratoga, most expected that his year-end goal would be the Breeders' Cup. Instead, he more or less disappeared, and neither the owners nor Ryan had much to say about why they took the direction they did.
When asked to clarify why they passed the Breeders' Cup, Briscione was not hesitant to state his reasons. It all began with his race in the Vanderbilt. Briscione is an adherent of the Thoro-Graph sheets and was concerned that the horse had run too fast in the race.
Book'em Danno takes the True North at the Spa | Sarah Andrew
“He ran his career top in the Vanderbilt,” Briscione said. “He ran a negative 4 1/2 on Thoro-Graph in that race. That equated to what Cody's Wish was running. People were telling me you are going to see a regression.”
Based on the numbers, there was a regression, ironically in the Forego, which was his lone Grade I win on the year. This time he ran a minus 1 1/2.
“We did see a regression in the Forego, but he wound up winning it anyway,” Briscione said. “He won a Grade I stakes at not his best. I started looking at these horses that had run huge races and how long it took for them to get back to their best. You look at these things and then you talk to your trainer. Of course you want to run in the Sprint. It's a $2 million race. For us, that is incredible. But they would have been catching him at a point where he most likely would have been tailing off. He did more than enough for us. Why push him?”
Briscione also admitted that the connections had some concerns that Book'em Danno would not get past the veterinarians at the Breeders' Cup.
“The veterinary process at the Breeders' Cup was something that came into play,” he said. “They were looking at these horses a couple of times a day for a couple of weeks beforehand. He's always been sound but he has that funny way of going, If a vet didn't know him and saw that I don't know what they would have done. I think we made the right decision.”
The question now is whether or not Book'em Danno did enough to be named the Eclipse Award winning sprinter? It is between him and Sprint winner Bentornato (Valiant Minister). Book'em Danno voters will no doubt look at his overall body of work this year. Even though he only made two starts this year, Bentornato will be backed by people who will give him extra credit for winning the Breeders' Cup Sprint, a race Book 'em Danno sat out.
“He [Bentornato] ran a great race in the Breeders' Cup,” Briscione said. “He's a horse I've followed for a long time. I think that if the award is for the best sprinter over the course of the year we will win. We were the best sprinter over the course of the year. If people want to say the Breeders' Cup is the definitive race, then I can understand that. He could have run against us in the Forego, but he ran instead in that race at Churchill [the Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes]. It's a philosophical question.”
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