Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association of New Jersey
by Bill Finley
It’s OK to call me biased. I live in New Jersey and, through good times and bad, have always pulled for horses that were bred in our state.
But that’s not why I will be voting for New Jersey-bred Book ‘em Danno for Champion Sprinter. It’s because he deserves it.
Yet, not everyone agrees.
The race is between just two horses, Danno and GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Bentornato. It’s true that both have some holes on their resumes and whoever wins will be a horse that won the title despite their shortcoming. Dr. Fager they are not.
But there’s no doubt that Book ‘em Danno has the superior credentials among the two. His 2025 campaign consisted of four wins from five starts. He began the year winning a restricted race for Virginia accredited horses at Colonial Downs and then headed to Churchill Downs for the GI Churchill Downs Stakes, where he finished fourth. That might have been the deepest sprint race run during the year. The winner was two-time Grade I winner Mindframe. Banishing, who earned $1,615,930 in 2025, was second. Nysos, your 2025 GI Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner, was third. And Danno was right there on the wire with that trio, losing by a neck and two heads.
Saratoga was next, and that was where he proved his bona fides. He made history, winning three straight graded stakes at Saratoga, the GIII True North, the GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt and the GI Forego. It was something that no horse has ever done before and something that will be all but impossible to accomplish once racing resumes at the new Belmont Park, which will mean fewer dates and opportunities at Saratoga.
Yet, Danno has his detractors. The argument I hear most often from those planning to vote for Bentornato is that they will hold the fact that Book ‘em Danno skipped the GI Breeders’ Cup Sprint against him. That the connections never gave a credible reason for their decision not to run in the Breeders’ Cup is something that has hurt their cause.
Bentornato is definitely a gifted horses and his win in the Sprint means something. It is the most important sprint race on the U.S. calendar. Twenty-six winners of the Sprint have been named champion sprinter in the same year that they won at the Breeders’ Cup.
But there’s a knock on Bentoranto–and it’s a big one. He only ran twice all year, in the Breeders’ Cup and in a listed race, the Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes at Churchill Downs. The Eclipse Awards are supposed to be for the horses who had the best overall year among their division. To me, a horse that ran only twice does not qualify under that criteria.
Still some voters will cast their votes for Bentornato and others have admitted to being torn.
The good news is that, based on my admittedly unscientific study, it looks like Book ‘em Danno will win. I polled 20 voters. Thirteen said they would be voting for Danno and five said they would cast their vote for Bentornato. One said they were still deciding. And then there was Eclipse voter Ed DeRosa from Horse Racing Nation. He said he wouldn’t vote for either one.
“I'm abstaining,” DeRosa said. “Bentornato only started twice, and there’s no way I'd ever vote for that. And Book 'em Danno ducked the Breeders' Cup.”
Should Danno win an Eclipse Award he will become the first New Jersey-bred to do so since Open Mind, who won back-to-back championships in 1988 and 1989.
The Eclipse Award winners will be announced on Thursday, January 22.
With nothing left to achieve within the few days remaining on the 2025 calendar, the Book ‘em Danno team is already contemplating a schedule for 2026.
Danno is currently resting up for the year in Ocala, Florida and will have a break of about two-and-a-half months before returning to serious training at trainer Derek Ryan’s winter base at Tampa Bay Downs.
“We have no definite plans as to where to go,” Jay Briscione, who heads the Atlantic Six ownership group, said in November. “I have had conversations with the people in Saudi Arabia and we have nominated him for two races there, including the [G3] Riyadh Dirt Sprint. There's more of a chance that he will go in the [Mar. 28 running of the G1] Dubai Golden Shaheen.”
Briscione said that the 2026 Breeders’ Cup Sprint will be a major goal this time around.
“It's not set in stone, but if he stays together and has the same kind of year we would go, working backwards, the Breeders' Cup, the Phoenix, one of those races at Saratoga and maybe that Keeneland race in the spring [the GIII Commonwealth Stakes],” he said. A lot would depend on whether or not we got to Dubai. It won't be a 10-race campaign. He just runs too hard to do that.”
Because he is a gelding and will be turning just five in 2026, Book ‘em Danno should be around for a while. Will there be more Eclipse Awards in his future? First things first.