He won the Breeders’ Cup Turf for the second time in November, was named American champion turf male for 2024 in January, and won his lone start this year in the $2.5 million Amir Trophy in Qatar in February. Despite those achievements, Rebel’s Romance may not be favored in Saturday’s Group 1 Sheema Classic at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates.
The 7-year-old gelding, a winner of 16 of 23 career starts, including seven Grade 1 or Group 1 races, was the 3-1 second choice with British bookmakers as of Wednesday behind the French import Calandagan at 2-1.
Calandagan, a 4-year-old gelding by Gleneagles, could give the more experienced Rebel’s Romance a fuss in the $6 million Sheema Classic at 1 1/2 miles, the richest turf race on the Dubai World Cup program. The nine-race program includes two other Group 1 turf races – the $5 million Dubai Turf at 1 1/8 miles and the $1.5 million Al Quoz Sprint at six furlongs.
Calandagan, trained by Francis-Henri Graffard, has won 4 of 8 starts, including his lone start at 1 1/2 miles in the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot last June. Calandagan was second in two appearances in Group 1 races later in 2024 in Britain. He lost by a length to City of Troy in the Juddmonte International at 1 5/16 miles in August and by a half-length as the 3-2 favorite to Anmaat in the Champion Stakes at 1 1/4 miles at Ascot in October, his most recent start.
Rebel’s Romance became the first horse to win the BC Turf in non-consecutive years in November, having won the race at Keeneland in 2022. He can now be the first repeat winner of the Sheema Classic, which was first run in 1998.
Rebel’s Romance is owned by Sheikh Mohammed’s Dubai-based Godolphin Racing and trained by Charlie Appleby. They have teamed to win the Sheema Classic in three of the last six runnings. Godolphin has won the race a record seven times.
Appleby said the win in the Amir Trophy at 1 7/16 miles was an ideal prep for Rebel’s Romance.
“He goes into this in good shape on the back of his win in Qatar,” Appleby told Godolphin’s website. “He is taking on some very good 4-year-olds, although our horse has shown a strong level of form over the past year.”
The Sheema Classic, which drew a field of nine, has four Japan-based runners, notably Shin Emperor, who was second in the Grade 1 Japan Cup in November and the winner of the Group 3 Neom Cup at 1 5/16 miles in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 22.
BC berths on the line
Leading stables from the Far East have runners in several stakes at Meydan on Saturday.
The Dubai Turf is led by the Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior, who was second by a neck to Dubai World Cup favorite Forever Young in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 22 in his first start on dirt. On turf, Romantic Warrior has won 18 of 23 starts, including eight consecutive stakes in Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Japan from October 2023 to January of this year.
A 7-year-old Irish-bred gelding trained by Danny Shum, Romantic Warrior has already won in Dubai this year. He prevailed by 4 1/2 lengths in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta Stakes at 1 1/8 miles in January. Romantic Warrior will be ridden by top Australian jockey James McDonald.
Japan’s Liberty Island, second by 1 1/2 lengths to Romantic Warrior in the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup in December, and Godolphin’s Nations Pride, a disappointing ninth as the 5-2 favorite in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park in January, are two other prominent runners in the Dubai Turf.
The winner of the Dubai Turf receives a fees-paid berth to the BC Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 1, while the winner of the Sheema Classic receives a berth to the BC Turf the same day.
In the Al Quoz Sprint, Believing, second or third in three tough Group 1 turf sprints in Europe late last summer and early fall, can win his first Group 1 in his sixth attempt. In a field of 11, Believing must beat Howdeepisyourlove, who was third in two Group 1 sprints in Hong Kong earlier this year.
The South African Group 1 winner Isivunguvungu starts for Maryland-based trainer Graham Motion. Isivunguvungu was seventh in the BC Turf Sprint at Del Mar last November and third by three-quarters of a length in the Turf Dash Stakes at five furlongs at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 22. Isivunguvungu was 20-1 as of Wednesday.
The first Thoroughbred race on Saturday is the Group 2 Dubai Gold Cup, a $1 million race at two miles on turf led by Trawlerman, who was third in the 2024 running, and two other European shippers in Continuous and Epic Poet.
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