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Alex Evers / Eclipse Sportswire

Book’em Danno, coming off two consecutive losses for the first time in his career, will start next in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile and then will make a return visit to Saudi Arabia.

The 3-year-old gelding by Bucchero was second by a neck last out in the Perryville (G3) and third before that in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1).

Trainer Derek Ryan has a simple explanation for those losses.

“For some kind of reason, I’m getting the leading riders in the country, and I’m not getting the rides,” he told Horse Racing Nation on Thursday. “My instructions, I want them on the outside, and I seem to be getting three in a row on the inside.”

Irad Ortiz Jr. was aboard for the Perryville, an inside trip where Book’em Danno split horses before coming up short.

“If he got through OK, they’d say it was great ride,” Ryan said. “But like I said, he’s never been beaten when he comes on the outside. For some reason, I tell him, watch his races, he likes to make his move outside. And it was a little bit unlucky too. You know, it is what it is.”

Ortiz will ride again in the Cigar Mile, which is at Aqueduct on Dec. 7. How Book’em Danno performs there will determine where he starts in Saudi Arabia, where he was second in the Saudi Derby (G3) in February.

“If he runs his race (in the Cigar Mile), we’ll hopefully go in the Saudi Cup and go for the big one, because that’s a one-turn mile and an eighth,” Ryan said. “So it’s not like I’d be trying something new. So we’ll see what happens.”

If he doesn’t do well, look for Book’em Danno in the $2 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint (G2) going six furlongs.

“He’s a gelding, and the money is unbelievable,” Ryan said, noting the purses of $20 million for the Saudi Cup and $2 million for the Dirt Sprint. “And we know he likes the track.”

Book’em Danno gave Ryan his first Grade 1 win this year in the Woody Stephens, with Ortiz in the irons, and he became the trainer’s second horse to win more than $1 million.

“He’s really easy to train,” Ryan said. “You can do anything with him.”

Look for Ryan to try new things with Book’em Danno next year.

“He’s starting to learn how to really drop back. So we’re going to stretch him out next year,” he said. “… After he gets a little break next spring, we’ll try the turf because he’s got some pedigree for that too. We’ve got some options. I mean, he’s a gelding. If he was a colt, we’d be doing different things. He doesn’t have a stud career ahead of him. It’s good and bad.”