Rebel's Romance, an eight-year-old gelding, won the Princess of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket's July festival on Thursday, marking his 22nd victory in 32 career starts. Trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, the horse crossed the line half a length ahead in 33-degree heat, with a sell-out crowd in attendance. The win adds to his career earnings of over £12.12m, putting him within reach of the all-time European record of £12.7m.
Global Campaign Continues
Rebel's Romance has raced across the world, from San Diego to Hong Kong, via Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Germany and Qatar. His latest victory came after a 131-day absence since his last race in the Gulf in late February. Despite the layoff, he maintained a relentless gallop to the line once Buick asked him to pick up the pace two furlongs out.
Appleby compared watching the horse to “like watching one of your kids on sports day at school,” and praised his enthusiasm. “He’ll tell us the day that he doesn’t want to do it anymore, and he showed today that he still wants it,” Appleby said.
Remarkable Career Statistics
Buick, who has ridden Rebel's Romance in 18 of his 22 wins, reviewed the horse's record the evening before the race. “I went through his race record again yesterday just to remind myself and it is amazing and outstanding,” Buick said. “Very few horses compete at that level in so many different countries for such a long time. His career earnings, his career wins and his Group One wins. His CV is incredible and he’s got such charisma and presence about him as well.”
Rebel's Romance was gelded before his two-year-old debut in October 2020, which precludes him from most Classic races but allowed him to compete globally. His career took off as a four-year-old, when he won three straight Group Ones, including the first of two Breeders' Cup Turf victories.
Future Targets
The Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland in November is a likely target, where a win would make him the first three-time winner of the race and the first European-trained horse to surpass £14m in prize money. Appleby said, “Of course we’d love to go there, but we’ll take it race-by-race. If he’s still showing as much enthusiasm next week as he did this week, it will be taken into consideration.”
Appleby added that the horse still shows great enthusiasm for racing. “People are entitled to ask should a horse like him keep running, but if I was to leave him for second lot, he’d be charging the door down and getting himself very wound up that he’d missed a bit of exercise or a gallop.”
Friday's Falmouth Stakes Preview
The Falmouth Stakes, a Group One event, headlines Friday's card at Newmarket. Aidan O'Brien's Precise, a dual Group One winner this season in the Irish 1,000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes, is expected to start as odds-on favourite in her first start against older horses. However, the race has been unreliable for three-year-olds in recent years, with four of six odds-on shots since 2012 being beaten.
Blue Bolt, winner of the Duke of Cambridge Stakes at Royal Ascot, is second-favourite at 7-2, but she was less than two lengths ahead of Jancis, who is 3lb better off at the weights. Jancis, trained by Willie McCreery, is an impressive winner on the Rowley Mile earlier this year and is priced around 12-1.
