Grade 1 winner and fan favorite Book ‘Em Danno heads a salty field of 11 in the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, one of five Grade 1s on Saturday’s 14-race Travers Day card at Saratoga Race Course.
Trained by Derek Ryan for Atlantic Six Racing, the Bucchero gelding most recently scored a nose victory over Little Ni (also entered in the 7-furlong race) on July 19 in the Jersey Shore at Monmouth Park and prior to that took the Woody Stephens (G1) at Saratoga.
Book ‘Em Danno is perfect in races of 7 furlongs or shorter, with his only two losses in eight starts coming when second by a head in the Saudi Derby (G3) and second by three-quarters of a length in the 2023 Nashua at Aqueduct, both at a mile.
Some familiar faces from the road to the Kentucky Derby will be making an appearance, including Timberlake, winner of the Rebel (G2); Otto the Conqueror, who was sixth in the Southwest (G3) for trainer Steve Asmussen, and Domestic Product, who took the Tampa Bay Derby (G3) prior to finishing 13th in the Kentucky Derby and most recently was a 7 1/2-length winner of the Dwyer (G3) at Aqueduct.
“It’s taken me some time to dial him all the way back to seven [furlongs],” said trainer Chad Brown. “The one-turn mile was a great race for him to do that even though it was on short rest. Now, I’ve had a breather to further dial him back [another eighth-mile]. The way he is right now -- so sharp and doing it the right way -- this race is coming up really competitive, but he’s one of the ones in there that can potentially win.”
Certain to attract considerable support is the Bob Baffert-trained Prince of Monaco, who in his first start of 2024 rallied from 16 lengths back only to fall short by a nose to Book ‘Em Danno in the Woody Stephens.
“It was disappointing that he ran so well but didn’t win. He didn’t get away from the gate, but [Flavien] Prat rode him with patience, and he just came up short. Hopefully he’ll run that race back with a better break,” Baffert said.
A $950,000 yearling purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Sales at Saratoga, the son of Speightstown won three straight last year, including the Best Pal (G3) and the Del Mar Futurity (G1) before finishing a well-back fifth to Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).
The Allen Jerkens also attracted a handful of sophomores just beginning to hit their stride, among them the Todd Pletcher-trained Speak Easy, who is 2-for-2, returning from a maiden victory in January at Gulfstream Park to take a 6-furlong allowance at the Spa on July 24.
“I think we are playing catch up a little bit from an experience standpoint. But I think, if the race unfolds the way it could on paper and there’s a really hot pace, then I think it sets up good for our horse,” Pletcher said.
Falling into that category as well are World Record, 2-0-2 from four starts in 2024, including a win in the Amsterdam (G2) on July 26; Vettriano, who will be making his stakes debut after winning both his 2024 starts for trainer Brad Cox; and the aforementioned Little Ni, who won his first three starts by a combined 17 lengths prior to the Jersey Shore.
Post time is 5:30 p.m. ET
For those who bet horse racing.
The picks: 1 Book’em Danno 2 Prince of Monaco 3 Timberlake
1 World Record (Luis Saez, Rodolphe Brisset), 8-1
2 Speak Easy (Irad Ortiz, Jr., Todd Pletcher), 8-1
3 Domestic Product (Flavien Prat, Chad Brown), 9-2
4 Vettriano (Manny Franco, Brad Cox), 20-1
5 Prince of Monaco (John Velazquez, Bob Baffert), 4-1
6 Timberlake (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox), 5-1
7 Otto the Conqueror (Tyler Gaffalione, Steve Asmussen), 20-1
8 Book’em Danno (Javier Castellano, Derek Ryan), 7-2
9 Reynolds Channel (Joel Rosario, Bill Mott), 30-1
10 Jefferson Street (Junior Alvarado, Bill Mott), 12-1
11 Little Ni (Jose Ortiz, Mark Casse), 10-1
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
