This was a 19th career success for Charlie Appleby’s star and a 2nd win in this race, 3-years on from his 1st in 2022. He beat Nerik and Arkadan on that occasion and with the greatest respect to those horses, this victory over Junko, a multiple group 1 winner in his own right, probably rates as the better performance, which is remarkable given that he is now a 7-year-old. This was also a first group 1 success for Billy Loughnane, who gave Rebel’s Romance a perfectly judged ride around what can be a very tight track where race position is so important. He certainly benefitted from being loaded last, with Rebel’s Romance spending just 3s in the stalls, compared to the 55s spent in the gate by the eventual 3rd, Cold Heart. Quickly into stride, he reached 30 mph in just 6s and was able to sit one length behind the free pulling Junko all the way along the back straight. The pair controlled the pace in front and there was never more than 0.02s between their individual furlong splits until they reach the home straight, but at that point, Rebel’s Romance found more and whilst Junko has run admirably once again, he simply lacks the gears of his illustrious opponent at this stage. Closing with individual furlong splits of 11.71 and 12.65s, both of which were the fastest in the race, Rebel’s Romance reached a top speed of 63.94 km/h, fully 1.23 km/h faster than the 62.71 km/h recorded by Junko and that proved to be the difference. A combination of the fastest top speed figure and the longest stride in the field, recorded at a race average of 25.46 ft, was too much for this field and is made all the more remarkable by the fact that this run came just 15 days after a gruelling effort in the King George at Ascot behind Calandagan and Kalpana. A winning time of 2:27.81 was the fastest winning time in this race since Nymphea in 2013 and it would be a mistake to think that this was a soft target. Clearly, the King George at Ascot was the deeper race, but this was a protracted battle with Junko and it took a significant effort to get on top in the closing stages. 

Junko likes to dominate races from the front and despite racing keenly, which seems to be his way of travelling these days, he has run his race. At the age of 6, he is perhaps no longer at the peak of his powers and much like in the Grand Prix de Chantilly in June, he has enjoyed the run of the race before being caught out for speed in the final quarter of a mile. A finishing speed of 102.6% would suggest that this was run at a fair gallop, but having controlled the pace and held the inside line around the bend, there are no obvious excuses for Andre Fabre’s charge. The pair were still 2-lengths clear of the rest, who were led home by Cold Heart who continues to work his way back to fitness after an interrupted career and I think it’s important to highlight that Junko’s time of 2:27.94 would have been enough to win the last 11 renewals of this race. However, whilst a three-quarter length victory for a horse sent off at odds of 1.2 might be seen as an underperformance, Rebel’s Romance has once again run his race and shows no signs of decline, despite his advancing years.