Breeders' Cup Turf 1-2-3 square off again in Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The summer didn’t go as hoped for Rebel’s Romance. With a change of seasons – and perhaps more importantly a change of circumstances – the expectation is the fall will bring a better results for the Godolphin homebred who is aiming for a repeat victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Rebel’s Romance is hoping to get a proper prep for the Breeders’ Cup when he heads a field of 10 entered in Sunday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic scheduled for 1 1/2 miles on turf at Aqueduct. In the Hirsch, Rebel’s Romance will face Stone Age and the mare War Like Goddess, who finished second and third, respectively, in the BC Turf.

The Hirsch, along with three other Grade 2 races – the Woodward, Vosburgh, and Gallant Bloom – were all moved to Sunday’s card after Saturday’s program was postponed following torrential rains on Friday.

Rebel’s Romance came to Saratoga hoping to run in both the Bowling Green and Sword Dancer. In the Bowling Green, where he was sent off the 1-2 favorite, Rebel’s Romance around the far turn clipped heels with a horse in front of him, stumbled, and unseated his jockey, Richard Mullen, who suffered significant injuries and is recovering back home in England.

Rebel’s Romance was briefly considered for the Arlington Million at Colonial Downs in mid-August, but the horse was not showing the same level of energy in his training and thus was sent back to trainer Charlie Appleby’s yard in England.

“He’s a horse that, surprisingly, how well he travels to America and ran in America, he doesn’t thrive on spending too much time there,” Appleby said Thursday. “Same in Dubai, he doesn’t thrive in Dubai. The longer he was spending in Saratoga, the team was saying he wasn’t as happy as he was on arrival, he was going backwards.

“We thought the right decision was to come back to the [United Kingdom] and get him freshened and ship him out for this meet,” Appleby added.

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Appleby believes the freshening has helped Rebel’s Romance, and he is expecting a big effort from him on Sunday.

“I’ll be disappointed if the horse doesn’t win, to be honest,” Appleby said.

William Buick will ride Rebel’s Romance from post 5.

War Like Goddess won last year’s Joe Hirsch before finishing third behind Rebel’s Romance in the Breeders’ Cup.

War Like Goddess is 1 for 3 this year, having won the Grade 3 Bewitch at Keeneland, finishing sixth in the Grade 1 New York, and ending up second, beaten a neck, in the Grade 2 Glens Falls.

In the Glens Falls, War Like Goddess was asked away from the gate by jockey Joel Rosario and she got a bit rank. Trainer Bill Mott is making a jockey change to Junior Alvarado in this spot.

“I don’t want to rush her out of the gate and I don’t want to drag her back to last and get her stuck,” Mott said. “She’s a closer is what she is. She likes to close, and she can close off a slow pace.”

Stone Age has not run well since finishing second in the BC Turf last November. He was sent to Chad Brown following a last-place finish in a Group 1 stakes in Qatar. In his first start for Brown, Stone Age acted up badly in the paddock and was part of the early pace and backed up to fifth, 11 1/2 lengths behind Bolshoi Ballet.

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Brown is hoping that Stone Age can change that pre-race behavior and give a better performance second time out.

Brown also sends out Adhamo, who in 2022 won the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth. He finished sixth in this race last year and was third in the Arlington Million in his lone start this year.

Soldier Rising is still in search of his first graded win. He finished second in the Man o’ War, Manhattan, and Sword Dancer – all Grade 1 stakes in New York – and was seventh with a difficult trip in the Grade 2 Bowling Green.

Trainer Christophe Clement believes the likelihood of soft turf on Sunday will help Soldier Rising, who finished in a dead heat for fourth in this race last year.

“He loves soft,” Clement said.

Pioneering Spirit, claimed for $40,000 in March by Linda Rice, has won 5 of 6 starts since being returned to the turf this year. He finished a well-beaten third in the Sword Dancer but came back to upset the Bernard Baruch on closing day of the Saratoga meet.

Though the Sword Dancer defeat came on yielding turf, Rice believes Pioneering Spirit can handle give in the ground.

“He’s a smaller horse, he’s a lighter horse. If one’s going to handle it, I think he will,” Rice said. “He does have a quick turn of foot, which maybe that’s better on firm ground. We’re going to find out, aren’t we?”

Grand Sonata is coming off an allowance win at Saratoga for Todd Pletcher. Astronaut won the Grade 3 Red Smith in front-running fashion over this turf course last fall. So High has the look of a rank outsider.

The Joe Hirsch, named for the legendary Daily Racing Form executive columnist who died in 2009, goes as race 6 (2:40 p.m. Eastern) on Saturday’s 11-race card.

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