BOOK’EM DANNO HAS HIMSELF A DAY AT MONMOUTH PARK; IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR FOR HASKELL CONTENDER BABY VINO 

Book’em Danno #3 ridden by Paco Lopez won the $200,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes at Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, on Friday July 17. Photo By Taylor Ejdys/EQUI-PHOTO

OCEANPORT – Book’em Danno, the three-time New Jersey Horse of the Year and the reigning Eclipse Award-winning Male Sprinter, delighted his large crowd of admirers as he dominated in the $200,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes on a special day held in his honor at Monmouth Park on Friday.

Under regular rider Paco Lopez, the five -year-old gelding broke alertly and never left the result in doubt despite a challenge in the stretch from multiple stakes winner Quint’s Brew. Book’em Danno shook off his rival inside the sixteenth pole and kicked clear to the wire to cover the six furlongs in the final time of 1:09.37 on the fast track.

Quint’s Brew, trained by Ned Allard and ridden by Forest Boyce, came home 1¼ lengths behind while Boardwalk Jack was another 4 ¼ lengths back.

On “Book’em Danno Day” the local star lived up to his advanced star billing. He rated behind Quint’s Brew as that horse set a quick split of :22.42 for the first quarter-mile, then took over the lead establishing fractions of :45.25 for the half-mile and :57.07 for five furlongs.

“I left it up to Paco (Lopez). I never tell Paco how to ride him. He (Book’em Danno) has been extra sharp the last two weeks. He’s been really on the muscle. He broke so fast,” said trainer Derek Ryan. “It’s kind of weird that everything has gone to plan for the last two years. You hate to say it but it’s perfect timing. It worked out the way I wanted it to.”

Lopez had high praise for his mount and the toughness he showed.

          “Quint’s Brew is a good horse. He has run some good numbers so I knew he would be pressing us,” said Lopez. “Everybody seemed like they had a little speed and I didn’t want to rush my horse just to make the lead. I know he can come from behind.

“Today he broke sharp. I let (Quint’s Brew) go because my horse was comfortable and he has been training very well. I knew he was ready to fight if he had to. He always does.

 “He was very comfortable the whole way even with all of the pressure he had. He sometimes waits for me pressure. I think he’s a better horse this year than he was last year. He’s more mature, he has put on some weight and he has a lot of confidence. He had to come from behind in a few races last year. Now he’s a different horse. He always breaks on top or near the lead.”

Ryan said that he had full confidence in Book’em Danno, who is owned by the locally-based Atlantic Six Racing Partnership, and was most recently the winner of the Grade 3 True North at Saratoga June 6.

“I know that horse (Quint’s Brew) and he’s a good horse and I know Forest (Boyce) and she’s a good rider,” said Ryan. “He’s a legit horse, and I figured he was the one to beat. I had no nervousness when they got into the stretch. Once he gets in front he’s tough to beat.

“He’s a battler. He’s really, really tough to beat. He’s been training so good; he’s been tearing the barn down. He’s not one to let anyone get by him. He’s very competitive and they’re hard to find.”

Ryan said Book’em Danno will head back to Saratoga to defend his title in the Grade 1 Forego on Aug. 29 in a 2026 campaign that will ultimately culminate in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“Hopefully, we’ve got one more before the Breeders’ Cup,” he said. “I know he loves Saratoga and I know he loves the distance so that’s the plan. It would be stupid to try something new at this stage.

“We got what we wanted (out of this race). You saw the crowd that was here. All the owners are local and everyone got to see him and it keeps them all happy.

The multiple graded stakes-winning Book’em Danno is now four-for-four at Monmouth Park. He broke his maiden here at first asking and has also taken the Smoke Glacken Stakes and the Jersey Shore Stakes at the Jersey Shore oval during his stellar career. The Mr. Prospector was his 10th stakes win overall, with five graded.

In the Mr. Prospector, Doroteo, Silver Slugger, and Full Moon Madness followed the top three home.

Book’em Danno, who was bred Gregory Kilka and Bright View Farm, returned $2.20 for a $2 win wager. He improved his record to 12-4-1 from 19 starts and upped his career bankroll to $2,255,425.

IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR FOR HASKELL CONTENDER BABY VINO HEADING INTO SATURDAY’S GRADE 1, $1 MILLION RACE

Cosmo Stable Owner Marcus Osborn (L) walks Baby Vino and Paco Lopez into the winners circle at Monmouth Park after winning the Pegasus Stakes. Photo By Bill Denver/EQUI-PHOTO

OCEANPORT – James “Smoky” Osborn, 78, and Albert “Aly” Miller, 72 never imagined that a 3-year-old bay colt named Baby Vino would come into their lives and sprinkle glitter on their golden years.

Osborn, with his son Marcus, are the principals of Cosmo Stables. Miller’s daughter, Chrystal, is married to Marcus Osborn, so the operation is a family affair.

Cosmos Stables is the majority owner of the son of Baby Vino, who earned his place in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million NYRA Bets Haskell Stakes at Monmouth Park and departs from the rail in the seven-horse field in his initial graded stakes try.

For the cherry on top, the 59^th running of the Haskell, Monmouth Park’s premier event, is a “Win and You’re In” for the Grade 1, $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland Oct. 31. Cosmo Stables, which sold a minority interest in the son of Vino Rosso to Delta Square Racing after the NYRA Bets Pegasus Stake romp, is a small outfit based in Southern Arkansas which was formed in 2024 and sent out its first runners this year.

Baby Vino, who broke his maiden in his fifth start at Oaklawn Park for trainer Lindsay Schultz before coming to Monmouth and winning the Pegasus in his first race here, is their only stakes winner.

Smoky Osborn, now retired after a 50-year career in the glass construction business, owned horses many years ago, but none like this one.

“Me and a couple of partners raced claiming horses when I was a lot younger. We didn’t have a stakes horse,” he said. “We didn’t even have allowance horses. But we had a good time. We raced at Oaklawn (Park) and Louisiana Downs. Oaklawn is only about 100 miles from our home, so we’d always go there.”

The degree of enjoyment he’s having now and at this level is almost indescribable.

“Oh, it’s a whole lot of fun. We’ve got just a little farm, and we keep a few horses that are turned out. We got him (Baby Vino) started and took him to Silver Springs (in Lexington, Ky.) for training. We have raced him from a baby,” Smoky Osborn said. “Before we had cheap horses, but we enjoyed them. We were proud of all of them. But this one is special, and you know that pretty quick.”

The Osborns are savvy enough to know that the position they find themselves in with a Haskell horse is rare as plenty of other owners have invested mega-millions into the sport over decades and never had a Grade 1 horse.

“We never thought this would happen,” said Marcus Osborn, who owns a restorative cleaning business in El Dorado, Ark. “We all still have chill bumps. We had no idea we’d be here now. I remember when he (Baby Vino) first got off the trailer when he was a yearling. He was absolutely gorgeous. When you see a horse with that beauty, that grandeur, you think, ‘Hey, what do we have here?’

“But really, no. You just don’t understand what’s going to take place. Me, my father-in-law, and dad looked it up last night. There may be one in 18,000 people who get this opportunity. People say ‘surreal’ and I understand the word, but this has not sunk in yet. We never dreamed this.”

Smoky Osborn, who raced his horses in the 1980s, wanted to get back in the game recently so Marcus started the stable in hopes that his dad could chase the dream in his senior season. Marcus bought Baby Vino privately as a yearling in 2024 with his dam, the Louisiana-bred Discreetly Grand, and his now 2-year-old half-brother by Classic Empire, whom they named Maximum Velocity.

He shipped all three horses to their Arkansas farm. Sadly, Discreetly Grand suffered a case of colic and died.

“We lost the mare. That was a very hard day,” said Marcus. “We have Baby Vino’s half-brother and he looks beautiful. He’s at Silver Springs in training and progressing really well. We hope to see him have a strong 2-year-old year campaign. He’ll go to Lindsay when he’s ready to come to the track,”

Miller spent his working life in charge of a 1,000-megawatt power plant for American Electric Power Company in East Texas. Tagging along with his daughter and her husband and father-in-law is a delight.

“I am loving this,” Miller said. “I’ve never done horses before. This is all new to me. It’s something to see. I’m retired and I just love getting out and being around them. We have a great time and I’m looking forward to more of it.”

For Smoky Osborn the family connection means everything.

“It’s very special. I wouldn’t do this with anybody else. Not at my age,” he said with a big smile. “I’m having the time of my life.”