Champion Rebel’s Romance Back On U.S. Soil For Saturday’s GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic

[Wandering Eyes]

Champion Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), who has a pair of GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf wins on his impressive resume, will return to U.S. soil to contest the GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct Racetrack next Saturday.

A $14-million earner for Godolphin, the homebred enters off a victory in Germany's G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin Stakes at Hoppegarten, an effort that followed a respectable third for the second consecutive year in Europe's top 12-furlong race of the summer, the G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

On Saturday, Rebel's Romance seeks his 20th career victory and ninth at the top level. The Charlie Appleby trainee also looks to improve upon a disappointing odds-on fourth in this race two years ago, as well as become the first foreign-trained winner of the Hirsch Classic since Aidan O'Brien's Cape Blanco (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in 2011.

Rebel's Romance, guided by Frankie Dettori on Saturday, will be joined by another Godolphin color bearer in El Cordobes (Ire) (Frankel {GB})–a $2.3 million purchase as a Tattersalls yearling. With four wins from 10 starts, the 4-year-old flexed his ascending form last month when taking the GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer at Saratoga.

“The plan has been to send the pair of them over and they're both in good order,” trainer Charlie Appleby said. “Obviously, El Cordobes is slightly younger, but both he and Rebel's Romance come in off the back of nice successes in their last runs. Hopefully that gives us a little confidence that one of them will be picking up the prize.”

As for the American contingent, entries include, GSW Redistricting (GB) (Kingman {GB}), GISP Rebel Red (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and MGISW & 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel). MSW Bank Frenzy (Central Banker) and Le Gris (City of Light) are entered for the main-track only.

The post Champion Rebel’s Romance Back On U.S. Soil For Saturday’s GI Joe Hirsch Turf Classic appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

View the full article