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| Staff Writer |
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Book'em Danno will not be heading to Dubai for the US$1million Gr.2 Godolphin Mile on April 5, trainer Derek Ryan revealed yesterday, preferring to keep the impressive Boston Handicap winner in America for a summer campaign.
"We're staying stateside. It (the Godolphin Mile) is a little too quick, so we'll wait a ways to see where he goes next," said Ryan, who spent most of Sunday with Book'em Danno in Ocala as he unwinds from his convincing victory in the US$150,000, seven-furlong Boston Handicap at Colonial Downs. "It's a long summer and if we went to (Dubai) we'd probably miss a lot of other races.
"You have to do what's right with the horse," Ryan said of last season's Pasco Stakes winner at Tampa Bay Downs. "There are six owners (the partners in Atlantic Six Racing) who want to enjoy him, and there are plenty of races for him—Keeneland, Churchill Downs. Maybe Monmouth Park or Saratoga."
The 4YO New Jersey-bred gelding, whose final start as a 3YO Dec. 7 resulted in a fifth-place finish in the Gr.2 Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack, appeared on top of his game Friday, powering home by 2 1/2 lengths under jockey Paco Lopez. Repo Rocks finished second and Celtic Contender was third in a field reduced to three horses by eight scratches. Book'em Danno's time was an "I'm back" clocking of 1:20.03.
"It was a small field, but both of those horses are stakes winners and (Repo Rocks, a multiple grade three winner trained by Jamie Ness) has a couple of years on (Book'em Danno). It was a good, solid effort, and (Lopez) gave him the kind of ride I'll be looking for for a real long time," Ryan said.
Book'em Danno, who is 7-for-12 with three seconds and career earnings of US$1,098,125, followed his Pasco victory here last winter by finishing second to Forever Young by a head in the Gr.3 Saudi Derby at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Japanese colt is 8-for-10 lifetime, his only defeats a pair of third place finishes in last year's Gr.1 Kentucky Derby and Gr.1 Breeders' Cup Classic.
In his first race back in the United States June 8 at Saratoga Racecourse, Book'em Danno won the Gr.1 Woody Stephens Stakes under Irad Ortiz, Jr., defeating Prince of Monaco and Nutella Fella, among others, in 1:21.30 for seven furlongs. The following month, he won the Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park under leading Tampa Bay Downs rider Samuel Marin, who had ridden him in the Pasco.
A son of multiple grade two winner Bucchero out of Adorabella, by Ghostzapper, Book'em Danno was bred by Gregory J. Kilka and the Bright View Farm of Christine Connelly.