Rebel’s Romance A Shock Sheema Winner As Auguste Rodin Disappoints

[Wandering Eyes]

Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) ran out a shock 28-1 winner of the G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan for Charlie Appleby and William Buick. 

It was a race of contrasting emotions for two of the powerhouse stables in Europe as Aidan O'Brien's dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin, sent off a 5-4 favourite, trailed home in last. 

But the day belonged to Rebel's Romance, who was placed prominently by Buick throughout. Appleby revealed after the race that his big-race jockey set out to ride the Breeders' Cup Turf winner handily, knowing that there was a lack of pace in the contest, and the plan was pulled off to perfection. 

The trainer said, “Rebel's Romance is a Breeders' Cup winner and a four-time Group 1 winner coming into the race and we were a 28-1 shot so that shows you the strength and depth of this race. William said he had a plan and we were confident the right thing to do was go forward on him.”

Appleby added, “I was very confident down the back that William was in the right spot because the fractions just weren't that quick and William knows this track so well. Most importantly I'm delighted for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed and to have a winner tonight is a great relief. It was a great ride by William.”

Buick echoed the sentiments of his trainer in his post-race debrief and showered the winner with praise.

“He showed in Qatar what a versatile horse he is,” Buick said. “His best form has usually been when he's held up but in Qatar I tried something new. I was keen today to adopt a similar tactic and I got a lovely slipstream from the leader.

“He's a very good horse on his day and he showed that today. I'm absolutely delighted; he's a great horse and I'm so glad he's back to his best.”

Reflecting on the importance of Godolphin registering a win on the biggest night day of the year in Dubai racing, Buick said, “You know His Highness wants to see the best horses come to Dubai and the best horses are here. These races are incredibly hard to win so of course I'm incredibly happy.

“It's great for the team, great for everybody. It's great to be here and it's great to ride a winner. It's an amazing training performance and a great job by the whole team. I'm in the fortunate position to be able to ride these horses.”

Meanwhile, O'Brien was left scratching his head as to why Auguste Rodin failed to fire. The multiple Group 1 winner never managed to land a blow with the master of Ballydoyle labelling the race as a “non-event”.

O'Brien said, “It was a bit of a non-event really. The race just developed into halves so we just want to put a line through the race really. Ryan just said he felt he wasn't happy where he was or anything. They just never activated at all so it was a bit of a non-event. It was just one of them where it didn't happen.”

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