Book'em Danno

This past season, Eclipse Award voters were forced to choose between the season-long body of work assembled by Atlantic Six Racing's Book'em Danno (g, 5, Bucchero--Adorabella, by Ghostzapper) and the brilliance shown in a pair of big-figure victories achieved by Bentornato (Valiant Minister), capped by success in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint. That contest was purposely given a pass by the Book'em Danno team. Book'em Danno prevailed in one of the closest battles on Eclipse evening, and on Saturday afternoon at Saratoga, the argument was settled--belatedly--on the racetrack, as Book'em...

Saturday's Belmont Stakes is the last of nine top-level events on the weekend and the final of the six highly anticipated Grade I contests scheduled for a bumper card at Saratoga, short, medium and long on both the turf and the main track. A top-quality field of seven is set to face the starter in the GI Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap, for which 'TDN Rising Star' presented by Nysos (Nyquist) is the 9-5 morning-line favorite and 126-pound topweight in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders'...

'TDN Rising Star' presented by Hagyard Golden Tempo (Curlin) was not the only marquee name on the worktab over the last 48 hours, as horses prepping for next week's Belmont Stakes Racing Festival--as well as some household names not heading to upstate New York--turned in breezes at racetracks from coast-to-coast, from Saratoga, Laurel and Fair Hill to Santa Anita. To follow are works in alphabetical order at the various venues with parenthetical mention of intended targets or races to which the horses have been nominated. Saratoga (Oklahoma unless othewise indicated)...

The in-form Point Dume (Into Mischief) shipped in from his base at Penn National and lowered the colors of the returning Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Book'em Danno (Bucchero) in Saturday's GII Carter Stakes at Aqueduct. The 7-1 second-longest shot on the board was ridden along from the inside stall and made the running in advance of rank outsider Acoustic Ave (Maclean's Music) through a very steady opening quarter in :23.01 as Book'em Danno, the 4-5 chalk and wearing front wraps for the first time in his career, settled just in behind...

Injuries and a suspension levied by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) have limited Paco Lopez's mounts over the last several months, but he is healthy again, has served his suspension and is ready to resume his career. Lopez will begin his comeback on Apr. 1 at Tampa Bay Downs, reports his agent, Jose Garcia. Lopez received a six-month suspension from HISA Sept. 23. In announcing the suspension, HISA issued a statement, which read: "The suspension stems from Mr. Lopez's violation of the terms of his conditional reinstatement, related...

Reigning Eclipse Champion Book'em Danno (Bucchero) has been named New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year for the third consecutive year by the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association of New Jersey, the organization said in a press release on Tuesday. Owned by Atlantic Six Racing LLC and trained by Derek Ryan, the gelding won four of five starts during 2025. The state's all-time leading New Jersey-bred money earner, now boasting $1,855,425 in career earnings, swept Saratoga's older sprint series--the GIII True North Stakes, GII Vanderbilt Stakes and GI Forego Stakes--en route to being...

Sometimes, you might as well just buy the factory. It was the fall of 2023 and Glenn Bennett already had two of Adorabella (Ghostzapper)'s three foals, the oldest of which (Girl Trouble, by Fast Anna) was a stakes winner for him and partner Swilcan Stable at Parx, and the youngest of which he'd just bought as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton's Midlantic sale. He'd twice tried to make a deal for the third, the mare's then-2-year-old named Book'em Danno (Bucchero), who'd caught his eye after winning his first three starts at...

The President of Unified Door and Hardware Group, L C Racing's Glenn Bennett has grown from a regional, Pennsylvania-based breeding program to a band of 20 which now includes the dam of an Eclipse winner. Bennett, who lives close to Parx and still brings his family to the track for days like the Pennsylvania Derby card and Owner Appreciate Day, often partners with Chuck Zacney's Cash Is King Racing (best known for campaigning MGISW Afleet Alex) along with now-retired trainer Mark Reid who Bennett credits with the genius behind these...

The podium at the 55th annual Eclipse Awards ceremony was awash in Godolphin blue Thursday, with a homebred from that global bloodstock powerhouse, Sovereignty (Into Mischief), running away with both Horse of the Year and 3-year-old male championship honors. Sovereignty's on-track tour de force included emphatic Grade I victories in the 2025 Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes, and those headline-grabbing wins helped to trigger a cascade of accolades for the colt's human connections. Godolphin took home its sixth straight Eclipse recognition as outstanding owner and its fifth consecutive...

Sovereignty (Into Mischief) capped off yet another massive evening at the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum's far-flung Godolphin operation, capping the festivities at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, by being named America's Horse of the Year for 2025 by a wide margin. It marks the second time in three years that a horse bred and raced by Godolphin stole the show, following on from Cody's Wish (Curlin), who took down top honors in 2023. Godolphin was also named outstanding owner and breeder Thursday...

New Jersey-bred Book'em Danno (Bucchero) and Breeders' Cup winner Shisospicy (Mitole) won top Male and Female Sprinter at the Eclipse Awards. A winner in four of his five starts in 2025, Book'em Danno finished his year with three straight wins all at Saratoga in the GIII True North Stakes, the GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes and the GI Forego Stakes for trainer Derek Ryan and owner Atlantic Six Racing. 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Shisospicy went undefeated on American shores after February for trainer Jose D'Angelo, winning the GIII...

The first reported foal by Claiborne Farm's GISW Prince of Monaco (by Speightstown)--a healthy filly out of the Justify mare Itgetsgreaterlater--was born at Serendipity Springs in Lexington, Kentucky Jan. 12, according to a press release from the sire's home base on Friday morning. This is the third foal out of Itgetsgreaterlater, whose second foal by Gunite brought $160,000 at last year's Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, topping the session among that day's weanlings. The Kuegler family's Wasabi Ventures Stables bought Itgetsgreaterlater for $80,000 at the 2023 Keeneland November Sale. The...