SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tough. Competitive. Deep. Salty. Those are some of the words trainers with key contenders in the lineup are using to describe the outstanding field assembled for Saturday’s $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial at Saratoga. And those adjectives may still not be doing the race justice.
Eleven of the best 3-year-old sprinters in the country were entered to contest the seven-furlong Allen Jerkens. The field features Grade 1 winners, Book’em Danno, Prince of Monaco, and Timberlake; World Record and Domestic Product, runaway winners of the Grade 2 Amsterdam and Grade 3 Dwyer, respectively; plus Speak Easy and Vettriano, who are looking to make the big jump into Grade 1 competition while coming off two impressive wins each.
To trainer Derek Ryan’s credit, he is not running away from the challenge with Book’em Danno, who also is entered in Friday’s $500,000 Robert Hilton Memorial at Charles Town, a race that came up decidedly easier and for the same money as the Jerkens.
Book’em Danno won a pair of stakes in four starts at 2. He has really flourished during a 3-year-old campaign in which he’s captured 3 of 4 outings, his lone setback coming in the Grade 3 Saudi Derby when defeated a head by Forever Young, who fell a similar margin shy of upsetting the Kentucky Derby just 10 weeks later.
After a brief freshening exiting the Saudi Derby, Book’em Danno has taken his game to an even higher level, upsetting Prince of Monaco by a half-length in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens here June 8 before returning to register a hard-fought nose decision in the Jersey Shore Stakes at Monmouth Park. He earned Beyer Speed Figures of 100 and 101, respectively, for those efforts.
The prestige of winning a second Grade 1 race at Saratoga along with a better post-position draw led Ryan to run Book’em Danno in the Jerkens.
“I couldn’t get a better post than the 8 with all the speed on the inside of us, he can watch and be where he wants to be,” said Ryan, who added that he felt his horse won the Jersey Shore despite getting what he described as a terrible trip in just a four-horse field.
Prince of Monaco didn’t get a very good trip either after breaking next to last in the Woody Stephens and falling more than a dozen lengths off the pace in the run down the backstretch when making his 2024 debut for trainer Bob Baffert. He ultimately fell a half-length short of catching Book’em Danno as the 8-5 favorite.
“He didn’t break well, got shuffled back a little, then came running. If he runs back that last race, he’ll be right there,” Baffert said. “He shows up every time, but this is a really tough, competitive race.”
Prince of Monaco won the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity going seven furlongs at 2 before finishing a troubled fifth behind Fierceness in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in the only two-turn start of his career.
Timberlake, winner of the Grade 1 Champagne at 2, and the lightly raced Vettriano give trainer Brad Cox a potent one-two punch in the Allen Jerkens.
Timberlake exits a third-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Haskell. When asked at what point he decided to turn his horse back to seven furlongs for this event, Cox quipped, “probably the eighth pole in the Haskell.”
“Actually, I thought the Haskell was a very good race for him off such a long layoff facing those kind of horses,” Cox added. “But I believe this gives him the best opportunity to win a Grade 1 right now.”
Vettriano joined Cox’s barn earlier this year and has won his two starts this season by a combined 11 1/4 lengths but will be getting a major class test Saturday.
“His numbers stack up with these horses, it’s just a matter of what kind of pressure he can take in the race early, and whether at the quarter pole he’s got anything left,” Cox said.
World Record and Domestic Product both earned 101 Beyer Figures for their easy wins in the Amsterdam and Dwyer, respectively.
Much to trainer Rodolphe Brisset’s dismay, World Record has drawn post 1 for the fourth consecutive time on Saturday.
“Last time I saw the rail I freaked out and almost didn’t come,” Brisset said. “This time I laughed. He showed me last time he belongs in that race with that group of horses.”
Speak Easy gained instant notoriety earning a 100 Beyer capturing his career debut for trainer Todd Pletcher this winter at Gulfstream Park. He was sidelined due to a minor injury for six months before returning to defeat first-level allowance company in impressive fashion from off the pace here earlier in the meet.
“Based on the way he ran last time, I would think he would benefit if they go fast up front, which they should, although obviously his inexperience is a concern,” Pletcher said.
– additional reporting by David Grening
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.