Ripples Romance Searches for Middle-of-the-Road Gem

Essam El Sayed (Abu Dhabi)
Godolphin’s world-travelling five-time Stakes winner Ripples Romance will be looking to find his first British glory in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday this month, where he faces a strong field including Auguste Rodin, Dubai Honor and Blue Stocking.
The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes has established itself as the mid-summer jewel in the middle-distance crown, seeing the cream of the Classic generation of three-year-olds compete against older horses in epic fashion since its inception in 1951, and is often described as the ‘Race of the Century’.
Charlie Appleby’s Rebel’s Romance has only run once in Britain since July 2022 but is among 19 horses confirmed for the big race at Ascot on July 27 alongside Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner Auguste Rodin and Hardwicke Stakes winner Isle Of Jura.
Six-year-old Ripples Romance, trained by Charlie Appleby, has five wins at the highest level in Germany (twice), the United States, Dubai and most recently in Hong Kong when he won the Champions & Shatter Cup at Shatin in May.
It is worth noting that “Rebel’s Romance” came to Dubai in the autumn of his career as a two-year-old to compete in the UAE Derby preparation races. He did everything right and fortunately won the UAE Derby, but unfortunately he was very weak in the three-year-old season. He was brought back that winter and tried again on the sand surface, but his record on this surface was not the best, so he was quickly switched to the turf track.