In less than 2 ½ minutes – 2:26.07 to be exact – Godolphin’s Rebel's Romance resurrected some sweet Breeders’ Cup memories Saturday, Nov. 2 at Del Mar.

The 6-year-old gelding took over in the stretch of the $5 million Longines Turf and had just enough energy late to post a neck victory over Rousham Park in the 1 ½-mile event, tallying his second Longines Turf victory following a 2022 win at Keeneland.

“He never lets us down,” said trainer Charlie Appleby after the homebred Dubawi gelding won for the 15^th time in 22 starts and pushed his earnings to $11,777,574.

In becoming the first horse to win two editions of the Turf in non-consecutive years, Saturday’s win put an exclamation point on an outstanding training job by Appleby and his team that brought Rebel’s Romance back to top form after his 2023 campaign was upended by clipping heels and falling in the Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

“We were planning to come back to the Breeders’ Cup (in 2023), but then he had that hiccup at Saratoga,” Appleby said about a gelding who has won in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Appleby and family celebrate. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Under William Buick, Rebel’s Romance was close to the pace throughout in the Turf. He was third after a half-mile in :48.77 and moved into second behind the pacesetting 51.40-1 longshot Cabo Spirit (who finished 12^th in the field of 13) with a quarter of a mile left.

From there, Rebel’s Romance surged to a 3 ½-length lead at the eighth pole and held off a late charge by Japan’s Rousham Park to pay $5.80 as the 1.90-1 favorite.

“He’s an amazing horse. He always seems to find a way,” Buick said.

As for the possibility of a third BC win at Del Mar next year, Appleby said, “You never know with this old boy.”

Japanese runners owned by Sunday Racing completed the trifecta as Rousham Park finished 1 ½ lengths ahead of Shahryar, who was also third in last year’s Turf.

The joy of the victory by Rebel’s Romance was tempered by the death of Jayarebe, who collapsed during the gallop-out.

The 3-year-old colt trained by Brian Meehan who finished seventh suffered what is believed to be a cardiac episode and died despite treatment by a team of veterinary experts led by Dr. Brent Cassady. Jockey Sean Levey was not hurt in the incident.–Bob Ehalt

Late-running Soul of an Angel Takes Filly & Mare Sprint

Soul of an Angel (#8) wins a thriller. (Eclipse Sportswire)

A year after watching a horse transferred from him, White Abarrio, win the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic for trainer Rick Dutrow Jr., Saffie Joseph Jr. now knows what it is like to experience Breeders’ Cup success.

The 37-year-old Florida-based trainer picked up his first victory at the Breeders’ Cup Nov. 2 when his late runner Soul of an Angel rallied to edge Society and Pleasant by a half-length in the $910,000 PNC Bank Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint to kick off Championship Saturday at Del Mar. She was her trainer’s fourth career Breeders’ Cup starter.

Meaningfully for Joseph, who choked up with emotion following the race and in the postrace press conference, the victory came for some of the same connections as those behind White Abarrio, who was returned to his care this year and has been breezing in recent weeks at Gulfstream Park. Clint and Mark Cornett’s C2 Racing Stable is a part owner in White Abarrio, as they are in Soul of an Angel, who they campaign with Agave Racing Stable and Ken Reimer.

White Abarrio had been transferred to Dutrow over eligibility concerns for Joseph in Kentucky and New York after two of Joseph’s trainees collapsed and died mysteriously during Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs in 2023. An investigation that took a couple of months cleared Joseph of any rule violations.

“I think what we went through last year, the biggest thing they ever did for me was giving me a way of (getting White Abarrio) back. ... I think that helped me heal a bit, to give me that confidence,” he said during the press conference, wiping away tears.

He was not the only one sky high Saturday – so was Drayden Van Dyke, a former leading rider at Del Mar who shifted his base to Florida and rides for Joseph, a move meant to kickstart a lull in his opportunities in California.

Soul of an Angel seemed an unlikely winner early in the Filly & Mare Sprint, falling back to last in the field of nine,12 lengths off the pace in the seven-furlong contest.

“I just had to stay after her and believe in her,” said Van Dyke, who notched his second Breeders’ Cup win after taking the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint with Stormy Liberal in 2018.

Fast fractions of :21.94 and :44.22 set by Society and Pleasant gave Soul of an Angel the setup she needed. She pulled within 6 ¼ lengths of the leaders after a half-mile, fanned out wide into the stretch, and reeled in the leaders and other fatigued pace-chasing rivals.

Runner-up Society and third-place Pleasant were narrowly in front of fourth-place Scylla and fifth-place Ways and Means.

Soul of an Angel ran seven furlongs on a fast track in 1:21.59 at odds of 19.80-1.

Having also won the Princess Rooney Invitational Stakes at seven furlongs in September, Soul of an Angel will likely garner support from voters for an Eclipse Award. Fourteen of the previous 17 Filly & Mare Sprint winners were later honored as North America’s champion female sprinter.–Byron King

Starlust Upsets Turf Sprint as Favored Cogburn Fizzles

Starlust and Ryan prove best at high odds. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Not that there’s ever a sure thing in horse racing – but one of the races in which many fans and gamblers were expecting to be an easy single in multi-race wagers was Cogburn in the $1 million Prevagen Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on the Championship Saturday card.

It certainly looked that way for the first half-mile of the five-furlong dash, but inside the final furlong, speedy Cogburn hit the wall and opened up a free-for-all to the finish. As the closers rushed on by, it was Starlust who emerged victorious at 33.60-1.

“This horse has been knocking on the door all year,” said winning jockey Rossa Ryan. “It’s just great to see him do it on the big stage. He’s been a bridesmaid. But brilliant, unbelievable performance.”

Ryan found himself last of 11 in the early stages of the race while 4-5 favorite Cogburn blazed on the lead through fractions of :21.59 and :43.72. Patient on the rail, Ryan picked off horses as they entered the stretch and was waiting for a hole to open.

“Luck was on our side, (the hole) opened so well,” Ryan said. “By the time it did open, I was there, I had the horse.”

As Cogburn grew leg weary, he drifted out into Starlust’s path which created a chain reaction. South Africa’s Isivunguvungu got the worst of it and had to check as Starlust asserted his path and pushed on to the lead. He hit the wire a neck ahead of Motorious and Ag Bullet to claim victory, completing the distance in :55.92.

An inquiry was held into the stretch run, but no change was made by the stewards.

The victory was Starlust’s third in 10 starts this season, and first in graded company since winning the Group 3 Sirenia Stakes at Kempton Park last year. He was third in the 2023 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park, and trainer Ralph Beckett was eager to bring him back for the World Championships.

“The (important) point about why we came here, it was around a bend,” Beckett said. “He was very good on the bend last year in the Juvenile Turf (Sprint). We really felt that if he was able to hold onto their coattails, that would play for him.”

It was Beckett’s second win in the Breeders’ Cup, having previously won the Breeders’ Cup Marathon with Irish-bred Muhannak in 2008. Ryan and Beckett have had quite the autumn, having won the Oct. 6 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Bluestocking.

“The reality is that when you’re in it, it’s very hard to enjoy it,” Beckett said. “I think probably we will enjoy it at the end of the year.”

As for Cogburn, his Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen simply summed up the emotions created by the fifth-place finish: “That sucked.”

Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. said he used Cogburn a little too much early after a not-the-best beginning.

“I just let him be him,” Ortiz said. “I didn’t want to fight too much with him. I turned for home, I asked him to give me a good kick, but they went by me.”–Sean Collins