Rebel's Romance

Godolphin's Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), winner of the G2 UAE Derby in March, will be forced to miss Saturday's GI Belmont S. due to an infection in a hind leg, according to a tweet from Godolphin Tuesday morning. "We hope this is only a minor setback and we look forward to seeing him back on the racecourse in the near future," the tweet read. With his UAE Derby victory, Rebel's Romance had qualified into the field for the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby, but connections decided to bypass that...

Godolphin's G2 UAE Derby winner Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) will bypass the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby and instead target the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown, the GI Belmont S. on June 5. Rebel's Romance, who is ineligible for the European Classics as a gelding, had been assured a spot in the starting gate at Churchill Downs after earning 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his 5 1/2-length UAE Derby win on Mar. 27. Godolphin has two other colts in the current top 20 by Kentucky Derby...

Any discussion of the world's leading turf sires must include Darley in Europe's Dubawi (Ire), but for all the success he has had with his runners on the grass, his strike rate on the dirt--particularly in Dubai--is nothing short of stunning. The sire of World Cup winner Prince Bishop (Ire) (and Monterosso {GB} on the Tapeta), Dubawi has also accounted for such horses as Hunter's Light (Ire), Benbatl (GB) and Mubtaahij (Ire). The latter took out the 2015 UAE Derby, and as the sun began to set Saturday at Meydan,...

The first three home in last year's Red Sea Turf Handicap have all returned to Riyadh for this $2.5 million staying contest over 3,000 metres. The trio is led by the George Strawbridge homebred Call The Wind (GB) (Frankel {GB}), whose victory over Mekong (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and Prince Of Arran (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) was followed through the French summer with wins in the G3 Prix de Barbeville and G2 Prix Kergorlay.  Freddy Head, who arrived in Saudi in time to see the 7-year-old have an easy canter on Thursday...