Paradise looks to keep it rolling in G3 Gazelle; Book’em Danno returns in Grade 2 Carter

Posted On 31 Mar 2026

By Mary Eddy —-

Paradise looks to keep it rolling in G3 Gazelle

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – NK Racing and LNJ Foxwoods’ Paradise was a decisive winner of the one-mile Listed Busher on February 28 at Aqueduct Racetrack, and will stretch out an extra furlong in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle for sophomore fillies.

The nine-furlong Gazelle [Race 11], which offers 100-50-25-15-10 qualifying points towards to Kentucky Oaks to the top-five finishers, is part of a stacked 12-race program headlined by the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino, a nine-furlong 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifier for sophomores in Race 12. Also featured on the five-stakes card are the Grade 2, $300,000 Carter presented by NYRA Bets in Race 6, the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff in Race 10, and the Listed $150,000 Excelsior in Race 3. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

Trained by dual Eclipse Award-winner Brad Cox, Paradise earned her first stakes win in the Busher when stalking 1 1/2 lengths off the early pace under Manny Franco as Current Yield marked splits of 23.38 seconds and 46.75 over the good footing. Interstatelovesong took command as three-quarters elapsed in 1:11.56, but Paradise gave game chase three-wide into the stretch and dug in gamely to put away the new leader and drive home a 3 3/4-length winner over returning rival Nycon in a final time of 1:38.53. She earned 37.50 Oaks points, as well as a career-best 78 Beyer Speed Figure, for the effort.

Paradise has since worked three times at Belmont Park, including half-mile efforts on March 21 and March 28 in a respective 48.44 seconds and 48.96.

“She’s doing great and her last two works have been very good,” Cox said. “She’s given us the confidence that she she’ll handle the mile and an eighth. I thought her race in the Busher was very good. It’s going to be a better group, but that’s part of it. I think she’s improved off the Busher based off what she’s shown us in the mornings, and I think she’s going to run a big race.”

The lightly-raced daughter of Gun Runner finished second on debut sprinting six furlongs in November at Churchill Downs where she broke outward and made a late bid from seventh-of-11. She changed tactics next out when setting the pace en route to a three-length graduation in a one-mile maiden on January 4 at Gulfstream Park ahead of the Busher.

“She’s straightforward and I thought her first race at Churchill was a really good run knowing that she wanted more ground; she obviously got that at Gulfstream with the one-turn mile,” Cox said. “I didn’t know what to make of that race – it was a good race, but it wasn’t a quickly-run race. I liked her going into the Busher and thought she was set up for a big effort.”

Cox said he was pleased to see the filly show adaptability with wins as both the pacesetter and a stalker.

“I like that she’s got enough speed to put herself where she needs to be,” Cox said. “She’s got a good mind and I think she’s set up for a big effort. I’m looking forward to getting her around two turns.”

Paradise was a $700,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale and is of the multiple Grade 1-placed Munnings mare Venetian Harbor, a dual-surface three-time Grade 2-winner. Her female family goes back to Hall of Famer and influential broodmare Safely Kept.

Cox said despite the sprint influence on her damside, Paradise has always appeared like a horse who would appreciate more ground.

“I think the mare had me thinking she might be a seven-eighths to a one-turn mile type, but the Gun Runners can definitely get you a mile and an eighth, mile and a quarter horse,” Cox said. “Looking at her physically, she’s got enough length to her and doesn’t look like a sprinter at all. I liked the idea of starting her short and then getting her a stamina race going a one-turn mile. We thought the Busher was a good opportunity to get black type, which she did, and now it’s time to step into graded stakes.”

Franco returns to the irons from the inside post.

Paradise will face a rematch with Icon Racing Stable’s Nycon [post 3, Jaime Torres], who is in search of her first stakes win for trainer Whit Beckman.

The Nyquist dark bay tracked alongside Paradise through the early stages of the Busher, and was still 4 1/2 lengths behind at the stretch call. She made a game run under Jaime Torres to earn 18.75 Oaks points, and the effort garnered a 71 Beyer, one point below her career-best earned for a neck second to Haute Diva in the one-mile Cash Run on New Year’s Day at Gulfstream Park.

Beckman said the late-running filly should appreciate the added distance and two-turns.

“We’ve never thought she was a filly that was going to sit close up,” Beckman said. “That was a pretty quick track that day and we thought she closed a ton of ground. She made a really nice move and galloped out really strong. She looks like two turns will be her deal. She should be alright around two turns for sure.”

Nycon, who graduated at second asking going a one-turn mile in November at Churchill Downs, was a $375,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and is out of the winning Awesome Again mare Raise the Flag, with her third dam being Hall of Famer Personal Ensign.

Red White and Blue Racing’s Pashmina [post 6, Ramon Vazquez] earned an 81 Beyer for a last-out third to Bottle of Rouge in the one-mile Sunland Park Oaks on February 15 at its namesake course for trainer Rob Atras.

The daughter of Constitution endured a troubled trip around the New Mexico oval, traveling wide around the first turn under Cristian Torres and tracking in mid-pack down the backstretch. She stayed wide through the last turn and made a bid in the center of the course, but was steadied as Bottle of Rouge veered out in mid-stretch. Pashmina had her momentum stopped and could only manage third, while Bottle of Rouge survived a steward’s inquiry and an objection from Torres.

“New Mexico was not her fault,” Atras said. “The horse [Bottle of Rouge] veered out sharply in front of her and Cristian did a great job – split-second timing – getting her out of the way because she could have clipped heels there. I don’t know if we would have won, but it definitely would have been pretty close at the line if that hadn’t happened to us. After it happened, it took the wind out of her, and she never really got back on the bridle and it took her a while to get back going again.”

Atras said he is hopeful Pashmina, who currently has 13 Oaks points, will relish the added distance on Saturday.

“She’s a decent sized filly and has a strong hind-end on her. She seems like she has the tactical speed to be a miler, but also has the pedigree, the stride and just watching her move in the morning and some of her races – the way she keeps coming – to go long,” Atras said. “This will tell us which direction we need to go, going forward, for the rest of the year.”

Pashmina was a $350,000 purchase at the 2024 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Yearling Sale and is out of the Super Saver mare Panthera Onca, who finished second in the Ruthless and third in the Listed Busher in 2020 at the Big A. Her second dam is Grade 3-winner Molto Vita, who was twice Grade 1-placed.

“She came out of the race really well which is important,” Atras said of the Sunland Park Oaks. “She handled it really well and shipped up here good. Hopefully, she handles the Aqueduct track good.”

Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is hoping Repole Stable’s Baffle [post 5, Kendrick Carmouche] will graduate in style off a deep-closing third in the one-turn 1 1/16-mile Virginia Oaks on March 14, where she earned 11.25 Oaks points.

The Violence chestnut will make her seventh start in the Gazelle, her best finish a second when closing from last-of-10 in a local one-turn mile maiden in December where she raced with blinkers off after a one-race experiment with them yielded an even third.

“She doesn’t seem to show a lot of interest early on in her races,” Pletcher said. “We tried some blinkers on which didn’t really help, so we’ve come to the point where we’ll let her run the race that she wants to run, which is hopefully finishing up strongly.”

A $130,000 purchase at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, Baffle is out of the Grade 3-placed Munnings mare Please Flatter Me.

Completing the competitive field are state-bred Maddie May-winner Victory Hall [post 8, Ricardo Santana, Jr.] for conditioner Tom Morley; local Ruthless-winner Two Bits [post 4, Jaime Rodriguez] for trainer Amelia Green; the Linda Rice-trained two-time winner Hot Gossip [post 7, Jose Lezcano]; maiden-winner Always a Runner [post 2, Dylan Davis], a $1.05 million yearling purchase trained by five-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown; and the Saffie Joseph, Jr.-trained maiden Slow Kara [post 9, Javier Castellano].

America’s Day at the Races presents live coverage and analysis of every day of the Aqueduct Racetrack spring meet on the networks of FOX Sports. For the broadcast schedule and channel finder, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the spring meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

Champion Male Sprinter Book’em Danno returns in G2 Carter presented by NYRA Bets

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Atlantic Six Racing’s Book’em Danno, the reigning Champion Male Sprinter, will make his seasonal debut in Saturday’s Grade 2, $300,000 Carter, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses, at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Carter, slated as Race 6, is one of five stakes on a blockbuster card headlined by the 101st running of the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino [Race 12], a nine-furlong route for sophomores offering 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. Also on the docket are the Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle [Race 11] – a 100-50-25-15-10 qualifier for the Kentucky Oaks, the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff [Race 10] and the Listed $150,000 Excelsior [Race 3]. First post on the 12-race program is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

Book’em Danno [post 2, Paco Lopez, 124 pounds], trained by Derek Ryan, took home Eclipse Award honors as well as his third successive New Jersey-bred Horse of the Year title on the back of a four-win campaign that included a trio of graded scores at Saratoga Race Course.

The 5-year-old Bucchero gelding secured his first Grade 1 win when taking the Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun in June 2024 at Saratoga and last summer added the Grade 3 True North in June, Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt in July and Grade 1 Forego in August to a sparkling Spa ledger to conclude his campaign.

Ryan said Book’em Danno, who has won his seasonal debut in each of his previous three seasons of racing, is thriving.

“The break has done him the world of good. He’s bigger and stronger. He’s developed into a big horse. He’s training better this year than last,” Ryan said.

Book’em Danno has posted a strong series of works over the Tampa Bay Downs dirt, including a three-eighths gate breeze in 37 seconds flat under returning rider Paco Lopez on March 27 before shipping north to Belmont Park.

“It went good. He’s good to go. Everything is going to plan,” Ryan said. “I don’t crank them. He’ll run his race, but he’ll have a lot of improvement from it, too.”

Ryan said he will pick his spots with Book’em Danno this year mindful of a campaign that will include a return to the Spa where he earned a career-best 111 Beyer Speed Figure for his 2 1/2-length Vanderbilt score.

“I think that was his best race,” Ryan said of the Vanderbilt effort. “He won’t run in all three races this year, it’s very tough. He’ll run four or five times. They say their 5-year-old year is their best year, hopefully they’re right.”

The eight-time stakes winner is out of the unraced Ghostzapper mare Adorabella, who also produced dual stakes-winner Girl Trouble. He has banked in excess of $1.8 million via a 16-10-3-1 ledger and is named after the catchphrase from the television show Hawaii Five-O.

Repole Stable’s Be You [post 4, Kendrick Carmouche, 122 pounds] has won three of his last four starts, the lone defeat coming to rising star Knightsbridge in a salty optional-claiming event here in November.

Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the 5-year-old Curlin gelding earned a Grade 1-placing as a juvenile when third in the 2023 Grade 1 American Pharoah going two turns at Santa Anita Park. His lone sophomore score came in a seven-furlong maiden sprint at Gulfstream Park in March 2024 one month before landing off-the-board in the nine-furlong Grade 1 Blue Grass, at Keeneland.

Be You has been near perfect since returning from a more than one-year layoff in October at Keeneland where he closed from 10th-of-11 and 6 3/4-lengths off the pace to notch a seven-furlong allowance win. He followed with the aforementioned closing try versus Knightsbridge before being elevated to victory in a one-turn mile optional-claimer in December here when he made a strong stretch run and checked off the heels of his drifting out stablemate Donegal Surges, who crossed the wire first and was subsequently disqualified for interference.

Last out, Be You earned his first career stakes win with a stalking 1 3/4-length score over Doc Sullivan in the seven-furlong Listed Toboggan on February 6.

Pletcher said a focus on one-turn events has benefitted Be You.

“It seems like this is what he wants to do,” Pletcher said. “He’s been able to be effective at longer and shorter distances, but I feel like seven furlongs is really his sweet spot.”

Be You worked a half-mile in 49.10 Saturday over the Belmont Park training track.

“He’s been doing well in the morning,” said Pletcher, who has won this event previously with Forest Danger [2005], Bishop Court Hill [2006] and Army Mule [2018].

The $320,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase is out of the graded stakes-winning Congrats mare Jacaranda, who is a half-sister to the Pletcher-trained dual Grade 1-winner and current WinStar Farm stallion Constitution.

Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will saddle the undefeated multiple stakes-winner Rated by Merit [post 5, Manny Franco, 122 pounds], who is a perfect 5-for-5.

St. Elias Stable’s Florida homebred Rated by Merit, in his first start for Brown, made a winning return from a more than 10-month layoff in October at Belmont at the Big A to capture the $125,000 Discovery, a one-turn mile restricted to 3-year-olds yet to have won a graded race at one-mile or over in 2025.

The last-out winning effort, which saw the 4-year-old Battalion Runner colt best stablemate Wise Up by 1 1/4-lengths under returning rider Manny Franco, earned a career-best 106 Beyer. He has trained into this event at Payson Park in Florida, including a half-mile breeze in 49.20 on March 28.

Rated by Merit, who reportedly required time off for bone bruising ahead of the Discovery, made his first four starts as a juvenile in 2024 at Gulfstream Park in the care of trainer Michael Yates. His victories included restricted stakes scores for registered Florida-sired horses in the six-furlong Dr. Fager, the seven-furlong Affirmed and the 1 1/16-mile In Reality.

Rated by Merit is out of the winning Speightstown mare Banner Waving, while his second dam, Freedom Flag, is a half-sister to multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Revolutionary. His third dam is Grade 1-winner Runup the Colors.

A talented field includes dual graded stakes-placed Quint’s Brew [post 6, Forest Boyce, 122 pounds], who enters from a win in Laurel Park’s Not For Love for trainer Ned Allard; graded stakes-placed Acoustic Ave [post 3, Jose Lezcano, 120 pounds], who is cross-entered in a Thursday optional-claiming event here for trainer Linda Rice; and multiple stakes-winner Point Dume [post 1, Angel Cruz, 122 pounds], who enters from a win in the Listed General George at Laurel Park for trainer Timothy Kreiser.

-30-

Contact: Keith McCalmont