Dubawi’s Rebel’s Romance Prevails in Yorkshire Cup Tactical Battle

[Wandering Eyes]

Friday's G2 Boodles Yorkshire Cup was run at little more than a crawl and played directly into the lap of Godolphin's seven-time elite-level winner Rebel's Romance (Dubawi), who fared best in a five-runner battle of wits.

The globetrotting seven-year-old, who had notched victories at the highest grade in four different countries, lobbed along in second as Coolmore's 2023 G1 St Leger hero Continuous (Heart's Cry) set sedate fractions on the front end. Sent wide towards the stands' side rail in early straight, the crowd's 11-10 pick inched ahead with three furlongs remaining and was resolute under a full William Buick drive inside the final quarter-mile to bravely withstand the persistent threat of Epic Poet (Lope De Vega) by a head. John and Thady Gosden trainee Sweet William (Sea The Stars) was compromised by the modest tempo and stayed on well to finish 3/4-of-a-length adrift in a bunch finish for the remaining podium spot.

“He's a real favourite with his own little fan base and rightly so for what he's achieved through his career,” said Charlie Appleby. “A few people asked why we came here, but I just felt in his last few runs over a mile-and-a-half that I didn't know if he still had that kick you need at the top level. When they went as steady as they did I thought it could be interesting. I'd rather they'd have gone a decent gallop and I was always confident he was going to win. I'm a believer in that if you go that steady, then any horse has a chance. Whether they're a Group 1 horse or a handicapper, they can all sprint for a couple of furlongs. We've seen time and time again that he is one of those horses that just puts his head down and goes again when something comes to him. When William [Buick] got off he said 'he's a mile-and-a-half horse and we got away with it'. Had he gone and won a more stoutly-run race then we might have thought about [the G1] Goodwood [Cup], but on the evidence of what William said, I think we'll go back to a mile-and-a-half.”

Looking ahead to future options, the trainer added, “We didn't want to go travelling just yet, we've got a bit of a career-end programme for him that will hopefully involve staying in Europe for the summer and then our American trips towards the second half of the season. He'll probably go to Germany and he's in the [G1] Coronation Cup. We'll see how he comes out of this race, but he has plenty of options. I'd imagine he'll go to Canada and then back to the Breeders' Cup.”

Pedigree Notes

Rebel's Romance is the leading performer out of Listed Height Of Fashion Stakes second Minidress (Street Cry), who also threw G1 Jebel Hatta and GI Manhattan Stakes heroine Measured Time (Frankel) and Listed Cairn Rouge Stakes third Petticoat (Cape Cross). Minidress is a full-sister to G3 Nad Al Sheba Trophy victor Volcanic Sky out of G3 Musidora Stakes-winning G1 Oaks and G1 Yorkshire Oaks placegetter Short Skirt (Diktat). Rebel Romance's third dam is the excellent producer Much Too Risky (Bustino), whose quartet of stakes winners includes G2 Prix de Pomone winner Whitewater Affair (Machiavellian), herself the dam of multiple Group 1-winning Dubai World Cup hero Victoire Pisa (Neo Universe) and G1 Yasuda Kinen victor Asakusa De'nen (Singspiel). Short Skirt's sibling Little Rock (Warning) annexed the G2 Princess of Wales's Stakes while Much Too Risky is kin to G1 Irish St Leger hero Arctic Owl (Most Welcome) and G1 Sydney Cup winner Marooned (Mill Reef). Minidress has a 2-year-old colt by Dubawi (Ire) to come.

 

' @godolphin's globetrotting seven-year-old denies Epic Poet in a fab renewal of the @Boodles Yorkshire Cup pic.twitter.com/FFpYkAvgFd

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) May 16, 2025

Friday, York, Britain
BOODLES YORKSHIRE CUP STAKES-G2, £192,200, York, 5-16, 4yo/up, 13f 188yT, 3:07.88, g/f.
1–REBEL'S ROMANCE (IRE), 134, g, 7, by Dubawi (Ire)
1st Dam: Minidress (GB) (SP-Eng), by Street Cry (Ire)
2nd Dam: Short Skirt (GB), by Diktat (GB)
3rd Dam: Much Too Risky (GB), by Bustino (GB)
O/B-Godolphin (IRE); T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick. £108,997. Lifetime Record: MGIS-US, MG1SW-Ger, G1SW-HK & UAE, G1SP-Eng, GSW-Qa, 25-17-0-1, $12,647,589. *1/2 to Measured Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}), GISW-US, G1SW-UAE & SP-Eng, $1,568,523; and Petticoat (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}), SP-Ire. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Epic Poet (Ire), 129, g, 6, Lope De Vega (Ire)–Sagaciously (Ire), by Lawman (Fr). (180,000gns Wlg '19 TATFOA; 450,000gns Ylg '20 TATOCT; 48,000gns 4yo '23 TATAHI). O-Akela Thoroughbreds Ltd; B-George Kent (IRE); T-David O'Meara. £41,323.
3–Sweet William (Ire), 132, g, 6, Sea The Stars (Ire)–Gale Force (GB), by Shirocco (Ger). O/B-Normandie Stud Ltd (IRE); T-John & Thady Gosden. £20,681.
Margins: HD, 3/4, HF. Odds: 1.10, 7.00, 3.33.
Also Ran: Alsakib (GB), Continuous (Jpn).

The post Dubawi’s Rebel’s Romance Prevails in Yorkshire Cup Tactical Battle appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article