Rebel’s Romance, Godolphin’s most successful horse ever, has been retired from racing.
During an outstanding career that spanned seven seasons, the son of Dubawi recorded 22 wins, nine of which came at G1 level, including the Dubai Sheema Classic, the Champions & Chater Cup, and two editions of the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Crowned North America’s Champion Male Turf Horse at the 2024 Eclipse Awards, Rebel’s Romance also registered top-level wins in Germany and the United States, in addition to major Group-race victories in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
Having easily defeated subsequent Champion Stakes winners Anmaat and Bay Bridge on his final juvenile start, Rebel’s Romance appeared set for a stellar career on dirt following a dominant display in the UAE Derby at three.
Injury ruled Rebel’s Romance out of the 2021 Belmont Stakes – won by Essential Quality– and he went on to post a sensational sequence on turf, winning his first five starts on the surface culminating with a course-record performance in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf.
Rebel’s Romance bounced back from an interrupted 2023 to emerge better than ever at the age of six in 2024 as he won five of his six appearances, annexing Qatar’s H H The Amir Trophy, the Dubai Sheema Classic, the Champions & Chater Cup in Hong Kong and Germany’s Pries von Europa.
He ended the season back in the United States at Del Mar, creating history as the first horse to win non-consecutive renewals of the Breeders’ Cup Turf and the oldest horse to win the race.
Rebel’s Romance’s seven-year-old season proved almost as prolific, with five victories including more top-level success in the Grosser Preis von Berlin and Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, in addition to stirring victories in the Yorkshire Cup and the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Sent back to Del Mar for another crack at the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Rebel’s Romance produced a heroic display as he attempted to join Goldikova as a three-time winner at the meeting, ultimately going down by a length and a quarter in second behind Ethical Diamond.
Rebel’s Romance won both his starts as an eight-year-old. Having been greeted with rapturous applause after taking the Dubai City Of Gold Sponsored by emirates.com on Super Saturday at Meydan, he displayed all of his usual exuberance to capture the Princess Of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket’s July Festival.
He retires with a race record of 22 wins from 32 starts for Charlie Appleby and earnings of more than £12.2m. In addition to his Eclipse Award, he is the leading Breeders’ Cup starter by prize money and the only horse to have amassed more than US$5m at the meeting.
Plans for the next chapter of his career with the Godolphin Lifetime Care program will be announced in due course.
Charlie Appleby said: “We always knew this day would come, but it’s nevertheless a very sad day for everyone at Moulton Paddocks and Godolphin as a whole. Rebel’s Romance has proved an outstanding horse for so many years and has taken us on a journey that we will never forget.
“It has been an absolute honour to train such an amazing horse, who has been a dream to look after from the moment he arrived. My thanks must go to the whole team at Moulton Paddocks, who have done such a brilliant job of caring for him throughout his career.
“We have had some great days together and, wherever I am in the world, he is the one horse people ask me about. He built up a great following and I was always touched by the reception he received across the globe. You dream of having a horse like Rebel’s Romance and I am incredibly thankful to have been part of his story.”
William Buick said: “Rebel’s Romance has taken me on some great adventures and I feel immensely privileged to have been able to ride a horse of his stature. He proved time and time again to be an outstanding horse and I cherish the moments that we have had together.
“He was a wonderful horse to ride, with such a presence and a will to win, and an immense credit to everyone at Godolphin associated with him. His record across the world was phenomenal and I owe him a great deal.”
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