DEL MAR, Calif. – No racing circuit on Earth is safe if Rebel’s Romance comes to town. Already this year, Rebel’s Romance has won stakes in Qatar in February, Dubai in March, Hong Kong in May, and Germany in September. Have talent, will travel is his motto. In 2022, Rebel’s Romance won the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland, and the 6-year-old gelding is back in the field for Saturday’s $5 million race at Del Mar. Owned by Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin Racing and trained by Charlie Appleby, Rebel’s Romance can become the first two-time winner of the BC Turf in non-consecutive years. “He’s been rock solid,” Appleby said earlier this week. :: BREEDERS’ CUP TURF: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more A winner of 14 of 21 starts with earnings of $9,177,574, Rebel’s Romance will be favored in a field of 10 that includes stakes winners from other parts of Europe, Japan, and the United States. From Britain, the 5-year-old mare Emily Upjohn can win for the first time since the Group 1 Coronation Cup Stakes against males in June 2023. Jayarebe, a 3-year-old, will have his debut at 1 1/2 miles after winning the Group 2 Prix Dollar at 1 3/16 miles at Longchamp in Paris on Oct. 5. The leading American hope is Far Bridge, who has won his last two starts in Grade 1 races at 1 1/2 miles on turf in New York – the Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 24 and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct on Sept. 28. Aidan O’Brien, who has won the race a record seven times, starts Luxembourg, who won the Coronation Cup in May at Epsom Racecourse in Britain, as well as the 3-year-old filly Wingspan, who will start at the distance for the first time two weeks after she finished second in the Group 1 British Champions Fillies and Mares Stakes at 1 7/16 miles at Ascot Racecourse on Oct. 19. Rebel’s Romance had his final prep race in the Group 1 Preis Von Europa at 1 1/2 miles in Cologne, Germany, on Sept. 22. Ridden by William Buick, Rebel’s Romance closed from fourth of six to take the lead with more than a furlong remaining. Rebel’s Romance won by a neck. While the win was not as flashy as his two-length victories in the first half of the year in the Group 1 Sheema Classic in Dubai or the Champions and Chater Cup in Hong Kong, the goal of preparing for the BC Turf was met, Appleby insists. “It was our concern going out there that he was 85 percent in his fitness,” Appleby said of the trip to Germany. “We didn’t want to go fully tuned up, knowing this was his target. William was delighted he did what he had to do.” Rebel’s Romance was held out of the 2023 BC Turf at Santa Anita after finishing a well-beaten fourth in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic. In his only loss this year, he finished third in a highly productive running of the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Ascot on July 27. Rebel’s Romance was always near the front, and led with a quarter-mile remaining. He faded to finish 5 1/2 lengths behind Goliath, who returned to win a Group 2 stakes at Longchamp on Oct. 20. Bluestocking, who finished second at Ascot, won the Group 1 Prix Vermeille at Longchamp in September and the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Oct. 6. Appleby took some solace that Rebel’s Romance was third, beaten by two closers. “I felt that he ran with a lot of courage,” he said. “The first and second were from off the pace. “It showed how tough he is. I know he got beat, but he was still around at the business end of it.” Rebel’s Romance, who will be ridden by Buick on Saturday, drew post 11, which Appleby said is not ideal. The BC Turf starts on the backstretch and covers a little more than 1 1/2 circuits of the infield turf course. Rebel’s Romance tends to run as a stalker, which places less emphasis on post position in such a lengthy race. “We’re a bit wider than I’d like, but it’s not as important as a mile race,” Appleby said. Far Bridge, trained by Christophe Clement, drew post 6 in the field of 13. A 4-year-old colt, Far Bridge has been in the best form of his career in recent starts. “I think the horse is doing great,” Clement said earlier this week. “I expect him to be competitive. That’s a positive. The negative is that it’s the Breeders’ Cup and it’s very tough. We need racing luck.” Far Bridge closed from fourth in a field of five to win the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic by a half-length over the mare War Like Goddess, who won that race in 2022 and 2023 and starts in Saturday’s BC Filly and Mare Turf. “He finished very well,” Clement said. War Like Goddess “is very good.” Wingspan left O’Brien impressed with her recent two-length loss to favored Kalpana at Ascot. A winner of two of six starts, Wingspan set the pace before losing her lead with more than a furlong remaining. She finished well clear of the trailing 12 fillies and mares. “She’s very well in,” O’Brien said, complimenting Wingspan’s current form. “It looks like she’ll have no problem getting the mile and a half. She’s relaxed and it could be interesting.” O’Brien starts Luxembourg, a 5-year-old who has won four Group 1 races in Europe and will have his American debut on Saturday in his 19th start. He dueled for the lead in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes before finishing sixth, and was sixth of eight after setting the pace in the Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown Racecourse in Ireland on Sept. 14, losing by 2 1/4 lengths, in his last start. The Japanese runners Rousham Park and Shahryar both have something to prove after losses in recent starts. Rousham Park is winless in four starts since a victory in the Group 1 Sankei Sho at 1 3/8 miles at Nakayama Racecourse in September 2023. He was 10th by three lengths in the Group 2 Mainichi Okan at 1 1/8 miles at Tokyo on Oct. 6 at a distance arguably below his best trip. Shahryar was third in the 2023 BC Turf at Santa Anita, but has lost three starts this year, including a second to Rebel’s Romance in the Sheema Classic. Rousham Park will be a longshot as will the Americans Gold Phoenix and Grand Sonata. Gold Phoenix has won the last three runnings of the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap at 1 3/8 miles in late summer, but was 10th in the 2022 BC Turf and fourth last year at Santa Anita. “I’m hoping for a top-three finish,” trainer Phil D’Amato said last weekend. Grand Sonata closed from sixth to win the Grade 2 Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes at 1 1/2 miles at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 7, the most prestigious win of his career. Grand Sonata showed enough to leave trainer Todd Pletcher hopeful for a surprise result on Saturday. “It was a good race for him last time,” Pletcher said. “He needs to run the race of his life.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.