Breeders’ Cup Connections: Owner Brings Book’em Danno to the Big Stage

Wandering Eyes · September 3

In the paddock for the GI Forego Stakes, nearly every other horse was flanked by handlers. A few pranced or eyed the crowd warily, as their teams worked to keep them focused on the task at hand. Meanwhile Book'em Danno (Bucchero) ambled placidly in front of the saddling stalls. His lone handler gave him an occasional pat, but otherwise the pair seemed impervious to the commotion around them.

That steady demeanor has been one of Book'em Danno's trademarks, and it's one of the reasons why bringing the multiple Grade I winner up to the races is such a pleasure for Mark Rubenstein, who not only serves as the gelding's race-day groom but is also one of his co-owners.

“I'd rather bring him over, as opposed to standing there in the paddock watching and hanging out,” Rubenstein said with a laugh. “It all ties into my racetrack and grooming roots.”

A Jersey-bred like his horse, Rubenstein grew up going to Monmouth Park every summer. While he enjoyed the excitement of afternoon races, it was the quiet intensity of morning training that drew him. In 1969, he dropped out of law school to work on the racetrack.

Over the next few years, he moved his way up from working as a hot walker to a groom and later a barn foreman. Rubenstein learned from trainers Larry Jennings and Tony Bardaro, and he crisscrossed now-defunct tracks like Hialeah Park, Garden State Park, and Atlantic City Race Course. He worked yearling and 2-year-old sales at Keeneland, Saratoga and Hollywood Park.

Mark Rubenstein on the job at Monmouth Park in 1974

Rubenstein on the job at Monmouth Park in 1974 | courtesy Mark Rubenstein

“I was living in a tack room and making not-too-much money, working seven days a week and loving every minute of it,” Rubenstein recalled. “Just sitting there in the morning after the horses had done their thing and listening to the people talking back there, it was wonderful. I worked for trainers that had some really nice stock and the good ones had an aura. It's hard to explain, but anyone who has worked at the races knows what I'm talking about.”

Eventually, Rubenstein made the decision to join his family's real estate appraisal business, but he never gave up his passion for the sport. He followed all the big races and put a few partnerships together in the late '80s. His stable's top earner Cuca's Lady (Great Above) collected seven stakes wins racing throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.

Six years ago, Rubenstein's old friend Jay Briscione — a fellow former hot-walker turned real estate professional —called and asked if Rubenstein was ready to get back in the game. They formed Atlantic Six Racing with four other New Jersey friends and started out with a horse named Counterfeitcurency (Currency Swap). The hard-knocking gelding placed in 10 of his 30 lifetime starts.

“He made us a couple hundred thousand and we parlayed that money into buying Book'em Danno,” noted Rubenstein, who was the one who named the future star.

From the day he arrived in trainer Derek Ryan's barn, Book'em Danno exuded a quiet confidence.

“His first day on the track he went out there and was as relaxed as could be,” said Rubenstein. “To this day, nothing gets to him.”

After going undefeated as a 2-year-old, Book'em Danno took a big step forward last year, traveling across the world to finish second to Japan's star Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}) in the G3 Saudi Derby and then earning his first Grade I victory in the Woody Stephens Stakes.

Mark Rubenstein and multiple stakes winner Get Permission at Hialeah Park in 1976

Rubenstein and multiple stakes winner Get Permission at Hialeah Park in 1976 | courtesy Mark Rubenstein

When Book'em Danno shipped to Colonial Downs for his 4-year-old debut this March, expectations were high for another big season. The only problem was that on race day, the groom never showed up.

“Our trainer asked me if I wanted to run him,” recounted Rubenstein. “It was something I hadn't done in probably 50 years–take a horse over to the races–but it's all muscle memory. I knew how to do it. So I told him sure and I've been running him ever since.”

Rubenstein has been the man at the end of the shank for Book'em Danno's past three trips to Saratoga, where the gelding has reeled off wins in the GIII True North Stakes, GII Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes and GI Forego Stakes.

For Rubenstein, the journey has been beyond anything he could have imagined.

“I knew we have a nice horse, but just to have him do what he's done up here, three graded stakes, that's off the wall,” explained Rubenstein. “We are a small little stable. We're not used to something like that. When we win an allowance race, that is a big deal for us. Now we're running for a half-million-dollar purse. It's crazy. It's absolutely crazy.”

In his Forego victory, Book'em Danno became the richest New Jersey-bred in history when he held off a late rally by Scotland (Good Magic) to win by a length.

“I don't think there was really a moment in that race where I was really worried,” said Rubenstein. “When he hit that seam coming into the stretch, I was very confident because he'll fight you. When he nailed those two speed horses, I knew that was it.”

While Book'em Danno started out as a likeable underdog, he has developed into one of the most popular horses in training. Rubenstein has witnessed that rise firsthand each time he walks the gelding back to the barns after every trip to the winner's circle.

“The adoration you feel when you're walking back after the race,” he shared. “People in the grandstand cheering their heads off and taking pictures going 'Danno! Danno!' I know he's a very popular horse, but it's a quarter mile of people just loving him.”

Book'em Danno and Mark Rubenstein in the winner's circle for the Forego Stakes

Book'em Danno and Rubenstein in the winner's circle for the Forego | Sarah Andrew

The Forego was a Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' qualifier. While trainer Derek Ryan has yet to commit to the championship meet, Rubenstein admits that the venue would be yet another memorable place to bring his horse through the paddock.

“I've been to Del Mar and it's beautiful out there,” he said. “It's a spectacular location with a great racetrack and it's a great place to have the Breeders' Cup again.”

Back at Monmouth this summer, Book'em Danno has a regular groom named Eddie, whom Rubenstein calls “the man.” With Eddie staying home to help manage the string when the stable's star trainee is traveling to the races, Rubenstein has had the rare privilege of leading his horse onto racing's biggest stages.

The experience has left a lasting mark well beyond himself.

“My kids were never really into it until 'Danno' came around,” he admitted. “Then all of a sudden, he was a big horse and they've enjoyed it a lot. We're always in attendance when he's running and I think they're going to carry on the tradition in the family. I want my grandchildren to be involved in racing.”

Each time Rubenstein walks Book'em Danno from the barns to the paddock on race day, he savors every step. The steady rhythm of hooves and the hum of anticipation bring him back to why he fell in love with racing in the first place.

“I'm a racetracker,” he said simply. “That's how I would define myself, even though I'm not there all the time anymore. Being in the barn, that's where I want to be.”