Two-time Breeders' Cup winner Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) made a victorious return to U.S. soil with an effortless victory in the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct Saturday. Sent off at 3-5, the globetrotting veteran was under a snug hold while prompting Redistricting (GB) (Kingman {GB}) through an opening quarter in :24.78. He took control as the half went up in :49.26 and loped along on a clear lead through moderate splits from there. Let loose midway on the final bend, Rebel's Romance continued to find more down the lane and sailed under the wire unchallenged.
“Flavien [Prat aboard Redistricting] was going too slow, I said let him slide,” explained winning rider Frankie Dettori. “He was doing it on his own rhythm and I know he stays, so just half way down the turn when I went through the gears, he went. I didn't need anything, I knew I was well clear. What a lovely horse. A 7-year-old, still competing at the highest level. Travels really well. For a big unit, he corners really well because the inner track can be really tricky. Well done to the team.”
Alex Merriam, assistant to winning trainer Charlie Appleby, added, “Obviously, they went decent enough fractions to start it and when they tried to slow it up, Frankie said he let him stride on. He's obviously a lovely, big horse, he's got a big stride on him–there's no point in holding him back. He just grinds it out and as you saw turning [for home], he gallops away. He's a proper horse.”
Rebel's Romance, a homebred for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin, owns Group 1 wins in Hong Kong, Germany, and Dubai, in addition to his top-level victories in the U.S. The gelding won the 2022 GI Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland. He returned stateside the following summer only to clip heels and lose his rider in the GII Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga before finishing third in that year's Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. When next seen in the U.S., Rebel's Romance earned an Eclipse championship with his second win in the Breeders' Cup Turf last November at Del Mar.
In 2025, the veteran has scored group wins in Qatar and England and was coming off a win in the G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin in August.
“He's a very sound horse,” Merriam said. “He's very straightforward. He obviously was gelded early. It's what to do with him–it's what Sheikh Mohammed designed Godolphin to do, to have horses like him to travel around the world and he's a flagbearer for Sheikh Mohammed and team Godolphin. That's what it's all about.”
Of a possible Breeders' Cup threepeat, Merriam said, “He's a very special horse. If he could win three Breeders' Cups, I think it would be pretty special. I haven't spoken to Charlie yet, but I presume that's the plan. He ships home tomorrow and he'll have a little quiet time at home and then we ship out to Del Mar the end of October I suppose. Fingers crossed.”
Pedigree Notes:
Godolphin purchased Rebel Romance's granddam Short Skirt for 1.4 million guineas at the 2006 Tattersalls December sale. The two-time group winner had finished second in the 2006 G1 Yorkshire Oaks and third in that year's G1 Epsom Oaks.
Rebel Romance's 5-year-old younger brother Measured Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}) added to the family's international success with Group 1 wins at Meydan and in last summer's GI Manhattan Stakes.
Saturday, Belmont The Big A
JOE HIRSCH TURF CLASSIC S.-GI, $485,000, Belmont The Big A, 9-27, 3yo/up, 1 1/2mT, 2:25.72, fm.
1–REBEL'S ROMANCE (IRE), 124, g, 7, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Minidress (GB) (SP-Eng), by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Short Skirt (GB), by Diktat (GB)
3rd Dam: Much Too Risky (GB), by Bustino (GB)
O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charles Appleby; J-Lanfranco Dettori.
$275,000. Lifetime Record: MGSW/MG1SP-Eng, G1SW-UAE,
Ch. Turf Male-USA, MG1SW-Ger, GSW-Qat, G1SW-HK,
29-20-0-2, $14,446,477. *1/2 to Measured Time (GB) (Frankel
{GB}), G1SW-UAE, GISW-USA, SP-Eng, $1,568,523. Werk Nick
Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Redistricting (GB), 124, g, 5, Kingman (GB)–Cascata (Ire),
by Montjeu (Ire). 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. (140,000gns Ylg '21
TATOCT). O-Klaravich Stables, Inc.; B-Farm Cove
Thoroughbreds Ltd (GB); T-Chad C. Brown. $100,000.
3–El Cordobes (Ire), 124, g, 4, Frankel (GB)–Bold Lass (Ire),
by Sea The Stars (Ire). (2,000,000gns Ylg '22 TATOCT).
O-Godolphin, LLC; B-Bjorn Nielsen (IRE); T-Charles Appleby.
$60,000.
Margins: 3HF, NK, 2 1/4. Odds: 0.64, 5.31, 3.24.
Also Ran: Far Bridge, Rebel Red (GB). Scratched: Bank Frenzy, Le Gris. Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
