On the day before the win in the GI Forego Stakes by Book ’em Danno (Bucchero), trainer Derek Ryan had already made up his mind about the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint. He had no plans to go.
“I’m really not that interested in the Breeders’ Cup,” Ryan said. “I have no desire to go there. I’m sure I’ll be pressured into it, but the Breeders’ Cup is not on my radar. I’m not keen to run him on a track that I don’t think will suit him. The stretch is too short and the track is speed-favoring. I don’t know why they keep running the Breeders’ Cup in California. We have some very good tracks here in the East.”
Book ’em Danno is a 4-year-old and a gelding and Ryan wants to keep him around for several more years.
“He’s run four monster races in a row, starting with the race at Churchill,” he said. “They’ve been tough races. It has taken a little bit out of him. We want him to last. I need him around for a few more years. I’ll get together with the partners and we will discuss it. Of course, the $2 million purse means something but I want the horse around for a few years. We’d like to extend his career for as long as possible and that’s why I’m not convinced that going to the Breeders’ Cup is the right thing to do.”
In the Forego, Book ’em Danno, the New Jersey-bred, won by a length in what may have been his hardest race to date. But it also firmly established him as the top sprinter in the country. If the Breeders’ Cup were run next week, he’d likely be the favorite. He’s won three graded stakes in a row, all of them at Saratoga. The list also includes the GIII True North S. and the GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt S.
The Forego might have been a game-changer. After what he showed on Saturday at Saratoga how can you not run him in the Breeders’ Cup?
By Sunday Ryan had softened his stance a little bit.
“We’ll talk about it down the road,” he said. “I am sure I will have a meeting with the partners. I’m a bit set in my ways. It’s not a no and it’s not a yes. It’s a maybe.”
Book ’em Danno is owned By Atlantic Six Racing, a group of six friends, all of them from the Jersey Shore.
Jay Briscione is the managing partner. His thoughts on the Breeders’ Cup?
“It’s the trainers’ job is to do what he is doing,” Briscione said. “By any metric you look at, this is probably the most consistent horse in training. He deserves all the credit and Derek has done a great job, We have a good relationship with Derek and we always kick these things around and try to figure out the best spots for him. He is a gelding, We have a stewardship of him now because we want to keep him going and racing because he’s developed such a following. Having said that, none of us has ever had a horse for the Breeders’ Cup and it’s an unbelievably exciting thing. I know it’s a cliche. But we want to first see how he reacts and how he comes out of this race. Then we’ll make our decision.”
“The negatives are that he’ll have to face some very good, fresh horses like Straight No Chaser and Bentornado. They’ll be fresh and we’ve gone through a tough campaign. We’d have to ship all the way across the country. It’s a speed favoring track with a short stretch. Those are the negatives. The positive is the $2 million purse. We’re keeping an open mind.”
No Triple Crown for Sovereignty
While nothing is certain in racing it sure looks like Sovereignty (Into Mischief) would have won the Triple Crown had his connections decided to run him in the Preakness. He’s simply the best 3-year-old around and even a super horse like Journalism (Curlin) can’t beat him. Why would the Preakness have been any different?
But this is what happens when the Triple Crown sticks to a schedule that calls for horses to run three times in five week and with only two week’s rest between the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Preakness. Trainer Bill Mott and the Godolphin team thought that was too much to ask of their horses and skipped the Preakness.
Since, he’s won the GI Belmont, the GII Jim Dandy and Saturday’s Grade I Travers Stakes You can’t blame Mott or the owner. They genuinely believed that running in the Preakness was not the right thing to do for the horse. But what if the Preakness were run on the first Saturday in June, which would have meant five weeks between the Derby and Preakness, the same gap that is now between the Derby and the Belmont?
Unless they expand the time between the race, this could be a continuing problem. I have never understood why trainers are so afraid to run their horses back on short rest, but they are. Sovereignty won’t be the last Kentucky Derby winner to pass the Preakness. And every time that happens, the sport will miss out on a possible Triple Crown winner.
An intransigent NYRA won’t hear of moving the date of the Belmont, even though their premier race has much to lose if they don’t change their minds. First Saturday in May. First Saturday in June. First Saturday in July. That’s the answer.
Belterra Stewards Got It Right
Congratulations to the stewards at Belterra Park, who did a lot more than slap leading rider Albin Jimenez on the wrist. Instead, they brought the hammer down after watching the replay of a ride in Thursday’s second race at Belterra that was, to say the least, suspect.
It was trainer Tom Drury, who saddled Jimenez’s mount, the 3-5 shot Afleet Vintage (Afleet Alex), who asked the stewards to review the race. Afleet Vintage broke sharply and actually took the lead going into the first turn. But from there, it appeared that Jimenez had a tight lock on the horse and wasn’t going to be happy until he wound up last. At the same time a horse named Permit to Carry (Goldencents), swooped to the lead
on the far turn and looked unbeatable at that point. Jimemez finally started asking his horse and closed for a non-threatening second. The winner was ridden by Summer Pauly.
We don’t know what Jimenez said to the stewards, but they obviously weren’t impressed, handing him a one-year suspension. The suspension will be reduced to six months if he does not file an appeal. Too many other stewards would have suspended him for 15, maybe 30 days. The Belterra stewards gave him the type of penalty that was appropriate for a ride like that. Good for them.