Rebel's Romance, El Cordobes ship in for Joe Hirsch
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Rebel’s Romance, the two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, and El Cordobes, winner of the Grade 1 Sword Dancer last month at Saratoga, were scheduled to arrive in New York on Thursday and both will make their next starts in the Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct on Sept. 27.
The two horses, both owned by Godolphin and trained by Charlie Appleby, had to undergo a 48-hour quarantine at a facility called The ARK at John F. Kennedy International Airport, not far from Aqueduct. Upon expected release from quarantine Saturday morning, both horses were then to ship to Saratoga, where they will train for the week before the race. Appleby said he is shipping them to Saratoga as opposed to stabling at Belmont because they’ll have use of the Oklahoma turf course over which to train.
Appleby is hoping to use the Joe Hirsch as a prep for Rebel’s Romance en route to an attempted third victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Rebel’s Romance won the BC Turf in 2022 at Keeneland and in 2024 at Del Mar.
Appleby was planning to run Rebel’s Romance in the Group 1 Preis von Europa at Cologne in Germany – the same race Rebel’s Romance won last year before the Breeders’ Cup – but said the weather is turning in Germany and he would prefer to run Rebel’s Romance on firm ground.
“The ground is turning soft at the moment, so therefore I didn’t want to get left without having a run,” Appleby said Wednesday. “We hope the ground conditions there suit [him] next weekend.”
Rebel’s Romance, a 7-year-old gelding by Dubawi, has won 19 of 28 career starts and earned more than $14.1 million. Despite the BC Turf being his only start in North American in 2024, the victory was enough to earn him an Eclipse Award as North America’s champion male turf horse. He has won 4 of 6 starts this year, with a third in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot and a fourth in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic in Dubai in April marking his lone defeats.
“At the age of 7, most horses are starting to wane slightly and might be coming back from Group 1s and stepping down to Group 2s or Group 3s,” Appleby said. “This horse has just maintained a Group 1 level, which you don’t see very often at their age.”
El Cordobes, a 4-year-old gelding by Frankel, showed a new dimension by coming from off the pace to win the Grade 1 Sword Dancer by a half-length over Rebel Red. Nations Pride, another highly regarded Appleby runner, finished third.
Appleby said the idea behind running El Cordobes in the Sword Dancer was “to test the waters, see how he’d adapt to the style of shipping, training, and racing over there. And, needless to say, he ticked all three boxes. He’s come out of the race very well.”
Appleby said it is likely that William Buick will ride Rebel’s Romance and Frankie Dettori will be on El Cordobes.
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