Before running Book’em Danno in the 2024 Boutique Group Saudi Derby for 3-year-olds in Riyadh, Tampa Bay Downs trainer Derek Ryan received an offer from Prince Faisal bin Khalid Al Saud to move to Saudi Arabia to train a string of his Thoroughbreds.
“I had to let him know two days after the race. It was a good offer, with a year’s salary up front,” the Tipperary, Ireland product recalled this morning at his Tampa Bay Downs barn. “When you have a kid (his son Chris) going to college, and who eats a lot. …”
In one of the most memorable races anywhere in the world in the last two years, Book’em Danno stole away to a long lead in the Saudi Derby, only to be nipped at the wire by a head by the Japanese-bred Forever Young. The difference in purse money – $900,000 to the winner, $300,000 to the runner-up – took a backseat (barely) to Book’em Danno’s effort to prove himself on an international stage.
But Ryan – well-known around these parts as the trainer of 2009 Grade III Tampa Bay Derby winner Musket Man – believed the Saudi Derby would not be his gelding’s lone shot at glory. At the appointed time to give Prince Faisal his decision, two days after the race, Ryan respectfully declined, choosing to continue to train Book’em Danno for the six partners and friends who comprise owner Atlantic Six Racing.
“I told him (Prince Faisal) if Book’em Danno won a Grade I stakes, I wouldn’t be too happy watching him do it from the other side of the world,” Ryan said.
Ryan’s faith in his New Jersey-bred son of Bucchero-Adorabella, by Ghostzapper, was well-founded. Book’em Danno won the Grade I Woody Stephens Stakes at Saratoga in his next start after the Saudi Derby, followed by a victory in the Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park.
Those successes served as a tuneup for his 4-year-old campaign in 2025, when he won the Grade III True North Stakes, the Grade II Alfred G. Vanderbilt and the Grade I Forego – all at Saratoga and all with Paco Lopez riding – to emerge as North America’s leading sprinter.
Ryan’s decision to send Book’em Danno to the sidelines after the Forego on Aug. 23 provided Florida-bred 4-year-old Bentornato (who had finished a distant third in the 2024 Saudi Derby) a chance to state his case as the top male sprinter of 2025, which he accomplished by winning the Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov.1 at Del Mar for his second 2025 victory from two starts for trainer Jose Francisco D’Angelo.
No surprise here, then: Book’em Danno, Bentornato and Nysos, Bob Baffert’s horse who won the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, have been announced as the finalists for the 2025 Eclipse Award Male Sprinter Champion.
Voting will be conducted by the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Daily Racing Form in 17 categories, including Horse of the Year. The Eclipse Awards ceremony, to be held Jan. 22 at The Breakers Palm Beach, is produced by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association.
Forever Young, who won the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, is the favorite in the Older Dirt Male category and is certain to be a finalist for Horse of the Year (those three finalists will be announced during the live show, with Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and DraftKings Travers winner Sovereignty certain to be among the group).
Ryan’s decision to give Book’em Danno the rest of the year off after the Aug. 23 Forego was based in part on his concerns that a speed-favoring track might work against his stalking running style and on his sense that the horse needed a break. He would have also preferred staying with Lopez, who was issued a six-month suspension by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety (HISA) body on Sept. 23 for an incident in December of 2024 in which he struck his mount in the upper neck area after the wire.
Mostly, though, Ryan wanted Book’em Danno to return sound and even more potent in 2026 with a long-term goal to get to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., at the end of October.
“We’ll pick our spots. He had a hard year and he needed a break,” Ryan said. “When you run that fast, it’s miles on the clock. Horses are not like cars – you can’t change the tires and go again. You have to give them the time, and his well-being always comes first.
“We go over him after every race with a fine-tooth comb. We X-ray him and do everything to make sure he is the same. He is a very laid-back horse – until it’s game time.”
Ryan said Lopez fits Book’em Danno to a ‘T.’
“This horse likes to be on the outside stalking somebody,” Ryan said. “He likes to hunt, and if he is somewhere on the outside of another horse he’ll run him down. Even if you have to give up lengths to get good position, you don’t want to get him stuck down on the rail.”
Ryan doesn’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about what he and the Atlantic Six Racing partners – Jay Briscione, Frank Camassa, Jeff Resnikoff, Mark Rubenstein, James Rubenstein and Jim Scappi – did to deserve a horse like Book’em Danno, who was a $30,000 private purchase as a yearling and has earned more than $1.8-million.
Where does he get his ability? “That’s a good question,” Ryan said, speaking for countless horsemen blessed to discover that one diamond in the rough that can run a hole through the wind and create a lifetime of memories. “You get ones like that who are just stone-cold runners. Musket Man was the same way – not a lot of pedigree, but a lot of heart.”
In his race before the 2024 Saudi Derby, Book’em Danno left a lasting impression on Tampa Bay Downs fans by winning the Pasco Stakes by 12 ½ lengths under jockey Samuel Marin in his lone start at the Oldsmar oval. Ryan said there is a chance Book’em Danno could be ready for this season’s $125,000, 6-furlong Pelican Stakes here on Feb. 7. He breezed 3 furlongs in 38.21 seconds on Dec. 23 at Hennessy Hill Training Center in Ocala and was heading for the racetrack today.
At this stage of his career, it’s safe to assume Book’em Danno will let his conditioner know.
Here are the 2025 Eclipse Award finalists (listed in alphabetical order):
Two-Year-Old Male: Brant, Gstaad (GB), Ted Noffey
Two-Year-Old Filly: Cy Fair, Explora, Super Corredora
Three-Year-Old Male: Baeza, Journalism, Sovereignty
Three-Year-Old Filly: Good Cheer, Nitrogen, Shisospicy
Older Dirt Male: Forever Young (JPN), Nysos, Sierra Leone
Older Dirt Female: Scylla, Splendora, Thorpedo Anna
Male Sprinter: Bentornato, Book’em Danno, Nysos
Female Sprinter: Kopion, Shisospicy, Splendora
Male Turf Horse: Deterministic, Notable Speech (GB), Rebel’s Romance (IRE)
Female Turf Horse: Gezora (FR), She Feels Pretty, Shisospicy
Steeplechase Horse: Cool Jet (IRE), Swore, Zanahiyr (IRE)
Owner: Godolphin LLC, Klaravich Stables, Inc., Spendthrift Farm LLC
Breeder: Don Alberto Corporation, Godolphin LLC, WinStar Farm, LLC
Trainer: Chad Brown, Brad Cox, Bill Mott
Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr., Flavien Prat, John Velazquez
Apprentice Jockey: Christopher Elliott, Yedsit Hazlewood, Pietro Moran
Around the oval. Leading jockey Samuel Marin rode three winners today. He scored in the second race on Awesome Campaign, a 4-year-old filly owned by M and M Racing and Ricardo R. Vallejo and trained by Victor Barboza, Jr. Awesome Campaign was claimed for $10,000 by trainer Jon Arnett for new owner William W. Guess.
Marin added the seventh race with Power Attack, a 6-year-old gelding owned by Amaty Racing Stables and trained by Jose A. Gallegos. The jockey also won the ninth and final race of the afternoon on Starship Empire, a 9-year-old gelding owned and trained by Ron G. Potts.
That was one of two victories on the card for Potts as trainer. He won the first race with Prancin Inthe Dark, a 3-year-old filly owned by the Elkstone Group and ridden by Huber Villa-Gomez. Prancin Inthe Dark was claimed from the race for $20,000 by Jon Arnett for new owner Charles D. Nielsen.
Thoroughbred racing continues Wednesday with a nine-race card beginning at 12:20 p.m.
