Modern Games

Modern Games
Racing silks of Godolphin
Sire	Dubawi
Grandsire	Dubai Millennium
Dam	Modern Ideals
Damsire	New Approach
Sex	Colt
Foaled	17 April 2019[1]
Country	Ireland
Colour	Chestnut
Breeder	Godolphin
Owner	Godolphin
Trainer	Charlie Appleby
Record	6: 4-1-0
Earnings	£434,633
Major wins
Somerville Tattersall Stakes (2021) Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (2021)

Modern Games (foaled 17 April 2019) is an Irish-bred British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the best two-year-olds in the world in 2021 when he won four of his six races including the Somerville Tattersall Stakes in England and the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf in the United States.

Background[]

Modern Games is a chestnut colt with a white star and three white socks bred and owned by Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin organisation. He was sent into training with Charlie Appleby at Godolphin's British base in Newmarket, Suffolk.

He was from the twelfth crop of foals sired by Dubawi, whose wins included the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the Prix Jacques Le Marois. At stud, Dubawi has been a highly successful breeding stallion, siring major winners such as Ghaiyyath, Too Darn Hot, Al Kazeem, Makfi, Old Persian, Lucky Nine and Night of Thunder.^[2] Modern Games's dam Modern Ideals showed no racing ability but was a half-sister to the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Ultra.^[3] She was a great-granddaughter of Konafa who finished second in the 1000 Guineas and was the female-line ancestor of Bosra Sham, Hector Protector and Golden Sixty.^[4]

Racing career[]

2021: two-year-old season[]

Modern Games began his racing career in a novice race (for horses with no more than two previous wins) over a distance of about seven furlongs on good ground at Haydock Park on 1 July when he started at odds of 5/1 and came home fifth behind Mr McCann, beaten eleven lengths by the winner.^[5] Later that month he started favourite for a maiden race over the same distance at Newmarket Racecourse. Ridden as on his debut by James Doyle he was in contention from the start, took the lead approaching the last quarter mile and won "comfortably" by two lengths from the Queen's colt Saga.^[6] In his four subsequent races in 2021, Modern Games was ridden by William Buick. At Leicester Racecourse on 8 August the colt started odds-on favourite for a novice race but was beaten three quarters of a length by the previously unraced Cresta, to whom he was conceding nine pounds in weight.^[7] A month later Modern Games was assigned a weight of 131 pounds for a nursery (a handicap race for two-year-olds) over seven furlongs at Doncaster Racecourse and won "readily" by three and a half lengths from Sed Maarib after taking the lead two furlongs out.^[8]

On 23 September Modern Games was stepped up in class to contest the Group 3 Somerville Tattersall Stakes over seven furlongs at Newmarket and started 3/1 second choice in the betting behind the French-trained Trident (runner-up in the Prix Morny). Modern Games took the lead soon after the start and shook off the challenge from Trident before drawing away in the closing stages to win by two and a half lengths.^[9] After the race Appleby commented "He's not a big, imposing horse by any stretch of the imagination, but he worked particularly well on Saturday and our plan was to go and make it, and make them come at us... He's a neat, little horse... maybe we'll look at something like the Breeders' Cup because he's got natural pace and plenty of experience under his belt."^[10]

As Appleby had predicted Mind Games was sent to the United States to contest the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf over eight furlongs at Del Mar Racetrack on 5 November, when he was joined by his stablemate Albahr (the winner of the Summer Stakes). The other contenders included Dubawi Legend (runner-up in the Dewhurst Stakes), Glounthaune (Killavullan Stakes), Tiz The Bomb (Bourbon Stakes), Coinage (With Anticipation Stakes) and Slipstream (Belmont Futurity Stakes). As the horses were being loaded into the starting stalls Albahr reared up and fell backwards, and Modern Games in the adjacent stall was released from the front of the gate. It was announced that Modern Games had been withdrawn but after a correction he was allowed to take part, although he was treated as a non-runner for betting purposes.^[11] Modern Games settled in mid-division and was then switched to the outside as he began to make progress on the final turn. He produced a sustained run in the straight, overtook the Mark Casse-trained Grafton Street 100 yards from the finish and won "readily" by a length and a half from Tiz The Bomb.^[12] Some of the crowd booed the result as their bets on the winner had been made invalid by the events before the start. Charlie Appleby commented "We understand that people who wagered on the race or had to change their wager would be upset... the horse came into the race with a lovely profile. He was a progressive 2-year-old, and he's really pleased us since he's been here. And so we were confident coming into the race that we were going to be a big player anyway."^[13]

Statistics[]

Pedigree[]

• Modern Games is inbred 4 × 4 to Mr Prospector, meaning that this stallion appears twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References[]