Rebel Red scoring the Chorleywood Stakes at Churchill Downs in June. (Renee Torbit/Coady Media)
Breeders’ Cup Closer Look
John D. Gunther and Eurowest Bloodstock Services’ Rebel Red (GB) has had more than his fair share of adversity. Last July, he suffered severe injuries to his left eye in a stall accident, leading to the removal of the eye and a question about the Frankel chestnut’s future on the racetrack.
Incredibly, he missed little training and got back to the races in the Bernard Baruch Stakes just two months later at Saratoga Race Course. Though he finished seventh, he found the winner’s circle next in a Keeneland allowance last October, proving that his head was still very much in the game.
“I think we over-thought it more than him,” DeVaux said. “He really lost two weeks and was back training. We just eased him into it and followed horses and saw how it went. We make sure he goes with a pony for safety because he can be a bit of a turkey. The jockeys try to take him wide to be fair for him and everyone. You’d never even know (what happened).”
Rebel Red went to earn his first graded placing with a third in the Grade 2 Red Smith at Aqueduct Racetrack to close out his campaign. This spring, he tested his luck in a trio of graded races, finishing off the board in the first two before facing another spate of bad luck in Churchill Downs’ Grade 3 Louisville in May, where he clipped heels and fell.
Nevertheless, Rebel Red dusted himself off yet again and came back with strong form, winning his next start in Churchill’s Chorleywood Stakes ahead of a seventh in Monmouth Park’s Grade 2 United Nations, but his determination shone again at the highest level with a narrow second to El Cordobes in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Stakes in August at Saratoga Race Couse.
"She feels wonderful…and probably pretty!" @CBredar talked to @reredevaux about her @BreedersCup contenders VAHVA, SHE FEELS PRETTY, and REBEL RED. pic.twitter.com/HLlpGjyMFc
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 28, 2025
“There’s a lot that’s happened. He’s run some really good races, but in the spring, he took a nasty fall clipping heels on the turf course at Churchill, and I really thought that might be it for him,” DeVaux said. “Even when he doesn’t run a good race, he goes right back in, and that was evidenced by the United Nations to the Sword Dancer.”
As he prepares to face his tallest task on the racetrack in this year’s G1 Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf, Rebel Red enters having already conquered far bigger obstacles along the way.
“He’s just one of those horses that has every excuse to not want to train or do it, but he wants to,” DeVaux said. “He’s training extremely well, and we’re so proud to have him out here.”
