SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The disappointment of finishing second and third with the top two choices in last year’s Grade 1 Sword Dancer lingered longer than one may expect for trainer Charlie Appleby and Godolphin. In Saturday’s 51st renewal of the 1 1/2-mile turf fixture in Saratoga, Appleby and Godolphin got their redemption as El Cordobes – the lesser heralded of the two Appleby/Godolphin runners – split horse in deep stretch and outfinished Rebel Red by a half-length. It was another three-quarters of a length back to the other Appleby/Godolphin runner Nations Pride in third. Far Bridge, who won last year’s Sword Dancer at 8-1 in a five-horse field, finished sixth as the even-money favorite on Saturday. Last year, Measured Time, the 4-5 favorite, and Silver Knott, the 6-5 second choice, finished second and third, respectively, for Appleby and Godolphin. :: Get exclusive Saratoga Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  “Last year was obviously a big disappointment going in there with two favorites; they didn’t run bad races and to be beaten by Far Bridge last year was no bad thing,” said Chris Connett, assistant to Appleby. “But this year there is a little bit of sweetness to it – it’s a race Charlie’s never won before – so to come over and do that, particularly with El Cordobes, going forward he’s a progressive type of horse and you saw the way he finished there very strong and it all points to big things going forward.” El Cordobes was coming off a win in the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket against just three rivals. But he won it from last after being covered up early and swung to the outside and coming with a strong late kick under William Buick. Buick, who had his choice of mounts for the Sword Dancer, selected Nations Pride, a four-time Group 1/Grade 1 winner and earner of $3.6 million. The negatives for Nations Pride were he hadn’t run since April and he hadn’t run 1 1/2 miles since finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf in November 2022. Nations Pride and El Cordobes, the latter ridden by Flavien Prat, were both in a forward position going into the first of three turns. But down the lane the first time, Joel Rosario on Far Bridge made an early move from fifth to second and that moved Nations Pride and El Cordobes to third and fourth, respectively. After tracking the pace-setting Vote No for the first mile, Nations Pride and Buick made the lead at the middle of the far turn. El Cordobes was following Far Bridge but El Cordobes lost a few positions. When Rosario took Far Bridge around a tiring Vote No, Prat moved on El Cordobes. In upper stretch, El Cordobes went around Far Bridge and hooked up with a wide-rallying Rebel Red. Those two were in pursuit of Nations Pride with El Cordobes finishing slightly better than Rebel Red. “They wanted a target. With the one hole I wanted to break with some intention and not be shuffled back so far which I was able to do,” Prat said. “Then it got a little messy in front of the grandstand for the first time so I lost a spot. But I didn’t want to get him back on the bridle again. I was following Joel. I thought he was going to take me somewhere regardless and then after that I was able to split horses and he did the rest.” El Cordobes, a son of Frankel, covered the 1 1/2 miles in 2:25.04 and returned $10 as the third choice. He earned a fees-paid berth into the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. “It was a big step up going from Group 2s to Group 1s, and the travel over and everything and it’s a big learning experience for some of these horses and he passed it with flying colors,” Connett said. Connett said that Buick told him Nations Pride tired in the last 100 yards. “He’s not run for a while, he’s entitled to come on from the run,” Connett said. Rosario said he made an early move on Far Bridge to get a better position early, but it may have cost his horse in the end. “I just moved forward to get my spot but when you decide to go he goes,” Rosario said. “After that I was following the horse on the lead and sometimes that not easy for him. The trip didn’t work out for him today. We’ll regroup.” Rebel Red rebounded from a seventh-place in the Grade 2 United Nations. “Just got beat. Second best,” Irad Ortiz Jr., the rider of Rebel Red said. “When I turned for home, he responded very well. I hit him a few times, he keeps responding. [El Cordobes], the winner, just kept coming."  El Cordobes and Nations Pride are scheduled to ship back to Appleby’s stable in Newmarket on Thursday. One or both could return for the Breeders’ Cup Turf, a race the Godolphin-owned and Appleby-trained Rebel Red has won two of the last three years. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.