GIII True North Stakes

According to a report by Steve Andersen in the Daily Racing Form, 2025 GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Bentornato (Valiant Minister) has suffered a sesamoid injury and is not expected to race again this year. Trainer Jose D'Angelo told the DRF that his sprint star is expected to return to racing in 2027 as a 6-year-old. Bentornato breezed a half-mile at Saratoga July 4. The injury was detected "a few days ago," D'Angelo said. D'Angelo said that Bentornato will be "outside the track for a couple of months. He's got...

In honor of champion and favorite son Book'em Danno (Bucchero), Monmouth Park has officially designated Friday, July 17, as 'Book'em Danno Day,' with the multiple Grade I winner scheduled to race in the six-furlong Mr. Prospector Stakes that day, the track said in a Thursday press release. Under the conditions of the race, the $100,000 purse for the Mr. Prospector doubles to $200,000 if a multiple Grade I winner starts in the race. In addition, Monmouth Park will have a special Book'em Danno T-shirt giveaway to the first 2,000 paid...

Monmouth Park and the connections of last year's champion male sprinter, Book'em Danno (Bucchero), are negotiating to get the five-year-old New Jersey-bred gelding to race at Monmouth on Friday, July 17, which is the day before the track's premier event, the GI Haskell Stakes. Dennis Drazin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth, disclosed the plans during Wednesday's New Jersey Racing Commission meeting. Drazin explained that the initiative would involve a special day in Book'em Danno's honor, with the aim of promoting the overall...

Trainer Jose D'Angelo has confirmed that last year's GI Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Bentornato (Valiant Minister) will make his next start in the GIII True North Stakes on June 6 at Saratoga. That means he will be facing the horse that nosed him out for the sprint championship last year, Book'em Danno (Bucchero). The True North carries a purse of $400,000 and is run at 6 1/2 furlongs. The two have not met since the 2024 G3 Saudi Derby, in which Book'em Danno was second and Bentornato was third. "Book'em...