Appleby will keep division of horses in the United States this year

In Kentucky, New York, and points beyond, Godolphin horses trained by Charlie Appleby will be showing up through the 2024 Breeders’ Cup.

Appleby already has run five horses at the Keeneland meet and said Tuesday, reached by telephone in England, that he plans to keep more horses in America this year, about a dozen, than during any previous season.

“We’ve got those older horses, a few 3-year-olds, that would suit the turf package. We felt we’ve got enough horses we can assemble a nice team of permanent imports,” Appleby said.

Appleby during 2023 had 26 North American starts – 22 in the United States, four in Canada – building on the 17 and 18 during 2021 and 2022, respectively. Bold Act and Silver Knott are entered in the Elkhorn Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland, and it’s all but certain Appleby will have more American runners this year than ever before. Currently based at Keeneland, the string will decamp to Saratoga in mid-May and remain there until late summer or early autumn.

One horse who won’t be seeing action for a while is the best horse Godolphin has here, Master of The Seas. He followed up on his Breeders’ Cup Mile win in November with a decisive score April 12 in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile. Connections initially had slotted the gelding into the Old Forester Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard but decided to pass that nine-furlong contest and keep Master of The Seas in one-mile races.

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His next start won’t likely to come until the Fourstartardave on Aug. 10 at Saratoga. Master of The Seas could return to Keeneland for the Coolmore Turf Mile in October before bidding for a BC Mile repeat.

“We’re very much working back from another shot at the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Timing-wise, the Fourstardave gives him a nice break again and he runs over a trip he’s especially suited for,” Appleby said.

Racing on a yielding, laboring course in the Maker’s Mark, Master of The Seas clocked a slow 1:37.10. The raw time yielded a 107 Beyer Speed Figure, Master of The Seas’s best among four North American starts. Making precise turf speed figures for the card was tricky, at best, since the day’s other grass contests were moved to dirt. Still, Master of The Seas, once a difficult and frustrating horse, showed he’s at least as good as ever at age 6.

“I think he’s better,” Appleby said. “He won with so much ease. I’d be confident that he’s an age now where he’s the finished article.”

Appleby also sent out the Maker’s Mark runner-up, Naval Power, a 4-year-old racing for the first time in America. Naval Power, who got a 103 Beyer, probably prefers 1 1/8 miles to one mile and will go to the Old Forester Turf Classic.

English Rose, a 4-year-old Frankel filly making just her fourth start, chased loose leader Beaute Cachee in the Grade 1 Jenny Wiley last Saturday, falling 1 1/2 lengths short while earning a robust 97 Beyer. Like Naval Power, English Rose ultimately wants more distance than the 1 1/16 miles she got last weekend, which makes the 1 3/16-mile New York Stakes a more likely spot for her next race than the one-mile Just a Game. Both races are June 7 at Saratoga.

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While Rebel’s Romance is stabled in England, he’s likely to return to America later this year, Appleby said. The winner of the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Turf, Rebel’s Romance struggled through 2023 but regained his form with a switch this winter to front-running tactics. Rebel’s Romance tracked a loose leader and easily won the Group 1 Sheema Classic, a star-studded $6 million race March 30 at Meydan.

Rebel’s Romance, another 6-year-old gelding, is a possible runner June 2 at Sha Tin Racecourse in the $1.2 million Champions and Chater Cup, a 1 1/2-mile contest in Hong Kong. Appleby said the BC Turf at Del Mar is on Rebel’s Romance’s agenda, as is the Aug. 27 Sword Dancer at Saratoga.

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