Rebel's Romance Leads Home Godolphin Exacta At Newmarket

Godolphin's storied globetrotter Rebel's Romance (Dubawi) defied a Group 1 penalty and took his European record to 12-from-14, and registered a 22nd career success, in Thursday's Kingdom Of Bahrain-sponsored G2 Princess Of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket.

“It's like watching one of your kids go up and down in the relay race and what can I say, everybody knows about him,” said Charlie Appleby. “He broke his turf maiden here back in the day and that's when he taught me that he was probably a turf horse rather than a dirt horse. I felt it was fitting for him to come up here and have this as his summer target. People asked why he wasn't at [Royal] Ascot and I just felt that that race might be just tough enough. Also, he was just coming and to be fair to the team at home, they're doing a great job. Will [Buick] sat on him plenty at home and Mark Halford knows him inside out. He's been up here for a couple of gallops and he showed all the signs that he still wants it. I don't think anyone can question mark him out there today.”

“I have to give full credit to what we call old Moulton Paddocks. He's up in the old original part of where it all started off for Godolphin and that's his house up there. All the team up there do a fantastic job of looking after him and he is like a pet. People can ask what questions they want to ask and should a horse like him keep running. If I were to leave him in second lot and change his lots over, he'd be charging the door down and getting himself very wound up that he's missed out on a bit of exercise or a gallop. Those are the signs you look for and he'll tell us the day he doesn't want to do it anymore. I think it's for everyone to see out there today that he still wants it. I'm not saying he's as good as he was, but he's still out there doing what he enjoys and that's the main thing.”

Looking ahead, the trainer added, “What I will say, and very openly, is that we will take it day by day, or race by race with him. I'm not going to try pigeonholing him and saying he's going to go here or everywhere. We'll see how he comes out of it today and if he still shows as much enthusiasm next week as he did this week, that will be taken into consideration. I hope everyone's enjoyed it because he's a horse that deserves all the recognition he's got.”

Buick added, “He's amazing and I really want the crowd to see him coming back in. He's an eight-year-old now, so he's in the twilight of his career and a very special horse. People deserve to see him and his will to win and his resilience is amazing. For him to be in my career is something very special. Charlie and the team will make a plan for him. I'm guessing at the age of eight, it's very much one step at a time.”

The 8-11 favourite, whose only domestic defeats came in the two latest renewals of Ascot's G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, stalked his pacesetting stablemate Arabian Crown (Dubawi) for most of the 12-furlong contest.

Coming under pressure with three furlongs remaining, he gained an edge approaching the final furlong and was driven out on the climb to deny the rallying Arabian Crown by a half-length.

Almeric (Study Of Man) plugged on to claim third-place prizemoney, 3 1/4 lengths adrift, with Convergent (Fascinaring Rock) trailing home 12 lengths back in fourth.

❤️ REBEL'S ROMANCE ❤️

The superstar globetrotter wins the Princess Of Wales's Stakes @NewmarketRace for Charlie Appleby and @WilliamBuickX 🏆🤩@BahrainTurfClub | @godolphin pic.twitter.com/YbR4vRvQwN

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 9, 2026

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 this contest, 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 the unraced three-year-old colt Fortitudine (Dubawi) to come.

Thursday, Newmarket, Britain
PRINCESS OF WALES'S STAKES (SPONSORED BY THE KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN)-G2, £165,000, Newmarket, 7-9, 3yo/up, 12fT, 2:27.83, g/f.
1–REBEL'S ROMANCE (IRE), 137, g, 8, 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; T-Charlie Appleby; J-William Buick. £93,572. Lifetime Record: MGISW-US, MG1SW-Ger & HK, MGSW-Qa & MG1SP-Eng, 32-22-1-2, $15,650,493. *1/2 to Measured Time (GB) (Frankel {GB}), G1SW-UAE, GISW-US & SP-Eng; 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–Arabian Crown (Fr), 134, g, 5, Dubawi (Ire)–Dubai Rose (GB), by Dubai Destination. (€600,000 Ylg '22 ARAUG). O-Godolphin; B-GB Partnership; T-Charlie Appleby. £35,475.
3–Almeric (GB), 134, c, 4, Study Of Man (Ire)–Alvarita (GB), by Selkirk. O/B-Kirsten Rausing; T-Andrew Balding. £17,754.
Margins: HF, 3 1/4, 12. Odds: 0.73, 18.00, 5.00.
Also Ran: Convergent (Ire). Scratched: Tenability (GB).