Godolphin homebred Rebel’s Romance made Breeders’ Cup history at Del Mar on Saturday, becoming the first two-time winner of the $4.6 million Turf (G1) in non-consecutive years.
Under a heady ride by William Buick, the 1.90-1 favorite broke the race open turning into the short stretch and just held on from Japan’s flying Rousham Park.
Rebel’s Romance had to overcome post 11 in a 13-horse field, and his ability to secure stalking position in a tactical race proved to be vital. While Cabo Spirit was expected to go forward, one might have thought that Ballydoyle’s second hope, Wingspan, would have done so as well. But she didn’t adopt an aggressive role, and the pace ended up being steady at best.
After Cabo Spirit got away with an opening quarter in :24.33, a keen Rebel’s Romance advanced from fourth into second on the first of three turns. Cabo Spirit then edged a length ahead through moderate fractions of :48.77, 1:13.82, and 1:38.51.
But rounding the far turn the final time, Buick wisely let Rebel’s Romance steal a march on the closers. The long-striding galloper rapidly opened up a daylight lead, and that was the decisive gambit.
Rousham Park, who had been last for much of the way, closed furiously down the lane, but he ran out of ground. At the wire, Rebel’s Romance was still a neck up in a final time of 2:26.07 for 1 1/2 miles, paying $5.80 to win.
“I sensed (Cabo Spirit) was getting a soft lead, putting the brakes on,” Buick recapped. “I said I’m in a position where I’m three-wide, in a bit of a no man’s land. I opted to go forward.
“He was a little bit competitive when I first moved him forward, but then he got in that lovely rhythm that he’s so accustomed to where he travels powerfully, but he’s within himself.
“It was a very sort of, from then on, straightforward race for him really. Even when he got the competition late, he still managed to find a little bit more.
“He’s an amazing horse,” Buick concluded. “He just seems to always find a way, which is the sign of a very, very good horse.”
“I don’t need to tell William (Buick) how to ride this horse,” trainer Charlie Appleby said. “He knows him inside-out. Throughout the race, I was pleased with where he was in his pitch and pleased to see to see him make the move that he did. He just keeps going, and we had the momentum our way.”
Rousham Park’s trainer, Hiroyasu Tanaka, observed that the deep closer nearly overcame the lack of pace.
“I was very close,” Tanaka said. “That was the plan: to let him go on his pace at the early stages, then make ground. He showed his turn of foot even if it was a slow pace.”
Shahryar, the other Japanese runner, also finished well to take third. His connections believed that the tighter track was tougher for him to navigate.
“He ran very good,” jockey Cristian Demuro said of Shahryar. “Del Mar was a little bit small track for him, and he was hanging a little bit at the corners.”
Trainer Hideaki Fujiwara indicated that Shahryar, who will enter stud in 2025, will have a swan song at some point later this fall.
Locally-based Gold Phoenix rounded out the superfecta for the second straight year. Next came the Aidan O’Brien duo of Wingspan and Luxembourg, Jayarebe, the troubled Emily Upjohn, Far Bridge, There Goes Harvard, Grand Sonata, Cabo Spirit, and El Encinal.
Sadly, Jayarebe collapsed after the wire, and despite immediate veterinary attention, he could not be saved. A cardiac event is the likely cause, according to a statement from the Breeders’ Cup.
Rebel’s Romance joins back-to-back winners High Chaparral (2002-03) and Conduit (2008-09) as the third to appear twice on the Turf honor roll. Also, Rebel’s Romance elevated sire Dubawi into a tie with Curlin and Into Mischief for the most Breeders’ Cup wins as a sire with eight. Later on Saturday’s card, More Than Ready made it a four-way tie when his son More Than Looks won the Mile (G1).
Six-year-old Rebel’s Romance boosted his bankroll to more than $11.8 million from a record of 22-15-0-1. First known as a Dubai dirt star, the dark bay romped in the 2021 UAE Derby (G2), but the Godolphin brain trust resisted the temptation of the Kentucky Derby (G1). The still-developing gelding was viewed as more of a Belmont (G1) type, only to be ruled out by a hind leg infection.
Rebel’s Romance reinvented himself as a turf horse in 2022, reeling off five straight capped by the 2022 Turf in course-record time at Keeneland. Unfortunately, his 2023 campaign was rendered forgettable by a series of factors, largely outside of his control.
The most difficult experience for Rebel’s Romance to overcome was his dramatic clipping of heels in the 2023 Bowling Green (G2), when he unseated jockey Richard Mullen and galloped off.
“He had that hiccup in Saratoga where he clipped heels,” Appleby said. “He lost his confidence. You could see that at home. He is a horse that will stride out.
“As I said to William going out there today, ‘Let him use his stride.’ In the paddock walking around, he has such a stride to him walking.
“He lost all of that mojo. We [had] to build him back up.
“Like any athlete, once they get into that rhythm and routine of winning, it takes a good one to knock them off their peg.”
Righting the ship with a confidence booster in last December’s Wild Flower S. at Kempton, Rebel’s Romance perfected his globetrotting profile in 2024 with three major wins across Asia. He scored in Qatar’s H H The Amir Trophy (G3), the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) on World Cup night, and Hong Kong’s Champions & Chater Cup (G1). In his British homecoming, Rebel’s Romance was a gallant third in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth (G1), despite an adverse race shape. He rebounded back on his travels in the Sept. 22 Preis von Europa (G1) in stakes-record time at Cologne, the same prep he used two years ago.
The Irish-bred is a half-brother to star stablemate Measured Time, winner of the Jebel Hatta (G1) during this year’s Dubai Carnival and the Manhattan (G1) on Belmont Day at Saratoga. They are both out of the stakes-placed Street Cry mare Minidress, a full sister to Group 3-winning stayer Volcanic Sky. Rebel’s Romance counts as his granddam multiple Group 3 heroine and classic-placed Short Skirt.
Plans call for Rebel’s Romance to winter in Dubai and point for a title defense in the April 5 Sheema Classic, but Appleby emphasized that the horse himself will dictate his own program.
“He’s very much a yard favorite for sure,” Appleby said. “When they’re six years old, still campaigning at the level he is, taking us all on our journeys around the world.
“Everybody loves him, needless to say. But he’s also built up this great fan base, this global base. We see it all around the world. The Europeans get a horse they’ll attach to. He has that worldwide fan base. Most noticeable when we went to Hong Kong. … Everybody knew him there. For him to go and do what he did there was a huge feather in his cap.”
Godolphin’s Hugh Anderson commented that Appleby and Rebel’s Romance express the team’s global vision.
“I think what Charlie has done with Rebel’s Romance is a classic example of what we can do at Godolphin and what we do so well.
“For him to win in Europe, Asia, Dubai, and here at the highest level, is what we’re all about,” Anderson said. “Absolutely brilliant, as Charlie, for the yard, all of us at Godolphin. He’s a flag-bearer for us. Well, long may it continue.”
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