2025 has just started, and the fans of horse racing are already anticipating many epic performances by these majestic beasts. Indeed, throughout 2024, they have seen great races and have been spoiled with major action all over the world. While the competition was tough last year, that resulted in a few names emerging to the top of the charts, and the community is excited for those horses.
One of those top-tier equines is Rebel’s Romance, which is worth around $11 million. He made quite a lot of appearances throughout his career, but last year, in a single season, he earned more than $8 million in various circuits in the world. And this season too, he will be starting in the race where he also ran last year’s first race, defending his title.
A horse racing career that made him a legend
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Horses acquire legendary status when they bag too many wins in their careers. However, for Rebel’s Romance, he doesn’t only have 15 wins from his 22 starts in his career; out of those 15 victories, he has won 7 grade 1 races. Indeed, that’s fascinating for a horse who has been racing since October 2020 and was born in March 2018. This will be his fifth year in the sport, but where will he be racing in the 2025 season?
As reported by Dubai Racing Club on X, Rebel’s Romance is scheduled to run at Al Rayyan Racecourse, Doha, on February 15 in the H.H. The Amir Trophy. Surely, it will be a grade 3 race, but it will also be the event that can add a whopping $2,500,000 to his already stellar career. He will be defending his title, and that’s a horse that dominated when he ran last time on the Qatari racecourse.
Now let’s dive into his glorious career. While 15 victories might be too much to talk about, his most notable wins in his career will be the seven Grade 1 race victories. Rebel’s Romance’s first G1 victory came during the Westminster 132. Grosser Preis von Berlin in 2022 at Hoppegarten. Right after this race, he ran in Koln in the 60. Preis von Europa präsentiert von DZ PRIVATBANK and secured a victory again. However, his most notable victory of the 2022 season came at Keeneland when he won the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf.
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Rebel Romance’s 2023 season wasn’t the best, but he returned to form in 2024, winning the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic. He kept up his form and then won the Standard Chartered HK Champions & Chater Cup. Even though he didn’t win the next race, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes, he came back stronger in the Mehl Mulhens Stiftung Preis von Europa. However, his highlight of the season came in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, which he won in style, securing his career second win in the same race.
The races that the horse racing legend has run are a testament to what he can do in major races. Indeed, he isn’t a horse that is afraid of quick runners on the track, as he’s one of them. However, only time will tell how he will perform in the H.H. The Amir Trophy. It will be a fantastic debut race for the current season, and many fans of Rebel Romance will hope that it doesn’t turn out like the 2023 season, where the horse struggled a lot.
The campaign where he didn’t shine much
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In the 2023 season, Rebel Romance participated in the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic for the first time. However, due to his poor past form at the Meydan Racecourse, he only secured a seventh-place finish. This got worse for the horse, as in the Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga, his jockey, Richard Mullen, got unseated and injured himself, which included a broken collarbone, three broken vertebrae, and a couple of broken ribs.
It was a horrifying scene at Saratoga, as many were concerned not only for the jockey but also for the horse. While Rebel Romance was unscathed, Mullen was rushed to the hospital. Eventually, they confirmed that the jockey wouldn’t need any surgeries, but his recovery would take a significant amount of time. The horse’s career didn’t stop, as he raced in a couple of races after that, and the rest is history.