Rebel’s Romance and Minnie Hauk on Breeders’ Cup collision course

William Buick is relishing the opportunity to be reunited with Rebel’s Romance next week, with the globetrotting superstar one of the headline acts among the pre-race entries for the Breeders’ Cup.

Charlie Appleby’s seven-year-old will bid for an unprecedented third victory in the Breeders’ Cup Turf having proven himself as good as ever this season, with Group One strikes in Germany and America taking his overall top-level tally to nine.

With Buick otherwise engaged, Billy Loughnane and Frankie Dettori were in the plate for his last couple of victories, but Appleby’s number-one rider will be doing the steering on Saturday week.

“The Breeders’ Cup is always a massive highlight and as we know Charlie likes to target it,” Buick said at Newmarket on Wednesday.

“Charlie’s record there is very good and obviously we’ve got Rebel’s Romance heading over there and I’m looking forward to getting back on him. I haven’t been on him the last couple of times because logistically it just hasn’t been possible.

“It would be special if he could win a third Breeders’ Cup Turf and we think he goes there in great form. You can never expect anything when you go over there, but you always know with Rebel’s Romance that he will turn up and put his best foot forward.”

Rebel’s Romance tops a list of 14 possible runners in the Turf, with Minnie Hauk seemingly the biggest threat to his crown.

Aidan O’Brien’s English, Irish and Yorkshire Oaks heroine was narrowly denied by Daryz in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Coral make her the even-money favourite to get back on the winning trail at Del Mar, with Rebel’s Romance a 3-1 chance to complete the hat-trick.

Appleby could also saddle El Cordobes, while other hopefuls include Francis-Henri Graffard’s Goliath and the Ralph Beckett-trained Amiloc.

Buick also has high hopes for the Appleby-trained Notable Speech in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, a race the Moulton Paddocks team won in three successive years with Space Blues (2021), Modern Games (2022) and Master Of The Seas (2023).

Notable Speech finished third 12 months ago but is favourite to go a couple of places better following an emphatic win in last month’s Woodbine Mile.

“Notable Speech was very brave when he won in Canada and he had to fight for his position early over there. I thought he was unlucky in the Prix Jacques le Marois and should have won that day and he ran well in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar last year,” Buick added.

“I think that experience will stand him in good stead for this year and you always need a good bit of fortune around a two-turn mile at Del Mar and in particular a good draw will be helpful, but fingers crossed things will go our way.”

The 15 Breeders’ Cup Mile pre-entries also include O’Brien’s The Lion In Winter, who filled the runner-up spot in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot.

The Ballydoyle handler looks set to send a particularly strong team of two-year-olds to California, with Moyglare Stud Stakes and Fillies’ Mile heroine Precise all the rage for the Juvenile Fillies Turf and stablemate Gstaad a major players for the Juvenile Turf. The O’Brien-trained Puerto Rico and Appleby’s Wild Desert do not feature in the Juvenile Turf list.

O’Brien’s high-class filly True Love, meanwhile, could contest the Breeders’ Juvenile Turf Sprint, with Wesley Ward’s Schwarzenegger chief among her potential rivals.

Cinderella’s Dream (Appleby), See The Fire (Andrew Balding) and Gezora (Graffard) are three of the big names to go forward for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

Buick said: “We’ve got Cinderella’s Dream and Diamond Rain possibly in the fillies’ race, it’s always a great meeting and I always look forward to it.

“It’s always very competitive, you have to work for your winners and you do also need a bit of luck on your side. It’s one of the great meetings on the calendar.

“It’s a massive test for a jockey and the American jockeys don’t give an inch away, so you always have to earn it.”

The home team unsurprisingly dominate the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with Bill Mott’s Kentucky Derby, Belmont and Travers Stakes victor Sovereignty bidding to round off his fantastic campaign with another major victory. Last year’s winner Sierra Leone also features in the 11-strong list, as do Preakness hero Journalism, Fierceness and Japanese ace Forever Young.