Rebel's Romance digs deep for Hardwicke honours
A dual winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf, a multiple Group One victor in Germany and also successful at the highest level in Dubai and Hong Kong, the seven-year-old secured his biggest victory on home soil to date in last month's Yorkshire Cup and he was a 6-4 shot to follow up under William Buick.
Favourite backers will have had few concerns, with Rebel's Romance travelling strongly throughout and he found plenty up the straight to score comfortably by a length and three-quarters from Al Riffa, with Ghostwriter third.
Appleby, who had not saddled a Royal Ascot winner since 2022 and had seen well-fancied horses like Notable Speech, Ruling Court, Cinderella's Dream and Treanmor beaten this week, was relieved to get himself into the big-race winner's enclosure.
REBEL'S ROMANCE wins The Hardwicke Stakes for Charlie Appleby. Congratulations to connections. pic.twitter.com/yZACYlrGzq
— Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) June 21, 2025
'Rebel's Romance is a worldwide superstar. I've got a picture of this fellow on my bedside table. He means that much to us all,' said the Moulton Paddocks handler.
'He's the only horse I know that you can take to Hong Kong and he'll get you into any bar and restaurant! You can get in anywhere on the back of Rebel's Romance.
'As William says, he's his best friend and they have that great rapport there. You couldn't get two more willing partners together.
'I have to give credit to the team at home. When you have an older horse, to keep them sound and keep them going, for him to have his enthusiasm year after year at this level.
'As they get older they all taper, as we all do, that's expected. He might get a bit slower but his enthusiasm and his heart does not falter one iota.'
Reflecting on the week, Appleby added: 'You can come here thinking you're fully loaded and have great chances, and you can walk away with excuses, but that's racing. I would like to think that we compose ourselves well, we take it on the chin and then we look forward to moving on.
'Once something comes to Rebel's Romance, he finds. You very rarely get a horse that when it gets into the red, he still goes.
'If there was one horse that you were having to roll your last dice on in this game, it was going to be him. Win, lose or draw he's going to go out there and go out on his sword for you.'
Joseph O'Brien was proud of the performance of runner-up Al Riffa, saying: 'Fantastic run, probably unlucky to meet a horse like Rebel's Romance in that race, but we're very proud of our horse, who is a real star for us and he's run his legs off for us again today.
'Hopefully there will be plenty more big days with him to come this season. He's a beautiful horse and he always runs to a rating not too far off 120, and it's hard to find horses like that.
'I wouldn't be against trying a little bit further with him – he's got plenty of stamina in his pedigree. I think we'll probably think outside the box with him a little bit now.'
The Clive Cox-trained Ghostwriter was sold for £2million on the eve of the Royal meeting and shaped with plenty of encouragement in his first start in the Amo Racing colours.
Owner Kia Joorabchian said: 'That was the first time at that trip (mile and a half) and I think he has handled that trip very well.
'I'm definitely not disappointed because probably that's one of his best runs ever. Clearly he's got very strong heart and I think he's going to give us a lot of fun.'
On what the future holds for the four-year-old, he added: 'He like the (fast) ground so maybe somewhere like America, Australia, those kinds of places he'd relish.
'No decisions from us, but we are very pleased with his run and I think he's managed to prove that the amount that we invested in him was worth it.
'Of course you'd like to win, but being beaten by a horse that has won the Sheema Classic, the Breeders' Cup, big races in Qatar, that horse is a massive horse and I'm happy for Charlie – he's broken his duck before me!'
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