Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes report and replay: Modern Games sweeps to victory
Winner of the last two Breeders' Cup Miles, the Godolphin star was claiming a first domestic Group One and William Buick was content to bide his time as Jim Crowley and Mutasaabeq blazed a trial at the head of affairs.
The leader was beaten approaching the final furlong when Chindit (22/1) swept to the front but just as Richard Hannon and his team though they were about to celebrate a big win, Modern Games found top gear.
He was soon in front, despite the runner-up seeming to try and bite him as he passed, and hit the line had a length-and-a-half to the good.
Berkshire Shadow (33/1) ran a huge race in third with My Prospero staying on for fourth.
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Buick told ITV Racing: “It was a real tussle, I definitely noticed it (Chindit’s attempted bite)! This horse is a real superstar, he’s so consistent and he’s just a joy to have anything to do with. He’s there when you need him, he’s done it now in England, France, America a couple of times and on different grounds. He’s a top-class miler.”
Sky Bet cut the winner to 3/1 from 7/2 for the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot. Paddy Power and Betfair are 2/1 from 6s.
Appleby would now love to secure a Breeders’ Cup hat-trick with Modern Games. He said: “I’m delighted for all of the team, but also for the horse, because he deserves to win a Group One in England and he will go down to date as one of the best sons of Dubawi there has been. He will be going to the breeding sheds at the end of the year when we have pulled the pin on his career. We will work back from the Breeders’ Cup. We will look at the Sussex, as logically we should do, and the Queen Anne along the route.
“But as we all know, I said it would be lovely to take him back for a third Breeders’ Cup and see if we can do the treble – not that it is a necessity. He has booked his ticket to a stud career, but to put an English Group One in the book is fantastic for him.”
Appleby added: “He has got older and he warms into his races. We saw that unfortunately in the later stages in America. It was an important day for him, as he has done it in America, in Canada and was a Classic winner in France, so to do it on home soil is a big feather in his cap. This horse started off his career with the likes of Native Trail and Coroebus, he was going out in the mornings with some star milers then. He showed he is a top miler. Not just on what he achieved in winning the Guineas and winning in America, but finishing second to Baaeed in the Sussex was a huge race. He was one of the few horses who put Baaeed under the pump. I felt he gained a lot of support and recognition from that day onwards here in England.”
Appleby felt Modern Games’ trip to Keeneland last month had the desired effect.
He said: “People raised their eyebrows a bit when we went to America. But I was delighted when I saw him at the paddock today, as while you always go over there confident, I was thinking the run might not do him any harm. It is a long way to go and have a run.
“I wanted to run him on quick ground. I know he ran with merit on Champions Day, but I started the season on quick ground and when I saw him in the paddock today, I saw he was fit and ready to do himself justice. We will head to Ascot, all being well. The aim is to take him back and win three Breeders’ Cup races.”
David Cleary view from the track
With no obvious claimant to be champion miler around, this year's Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes was in marked contrast to those of the last two years, when Palace Pier and Baaeed were sent off at odds on and duly delivered, setting up seasons of dominance. Today, it could have been any one of four that went off favourite. In the end, the punters plumped for the right one, 3/1 favourite Modern Games coming through late and surviving the runner-up Chindit's biting his rider William Buick as he went past.
This was a fourth victory at the highest level for Modern Games and the first one in Britain. He's a high-class,, genuine and consistent miler. However, with Chindit, third behind Baaeed in 2022, and Berkshire Shadow, in good form on the all-weather this year but short of the class required at Group 1 level previously, taking the placings, it's unlikely the winner has needed to improve on the very best of his previous form.
The Queen Anne is the obvious next step for Modern Games, a race that should be run to suit him, and those behind him here might be pushed to turn the tables. One who could do is My Prospero, who was one of only two in the field that lacked an outing this year. He seemed a bit rusty and could well give Modern Games a race in the Queen Anne, though a return to a mile and a quarter seems a more obvious step.
Mutasaabeq tried to make all, but wasn't nearly so effective in this larger field and seemed to have his limitations exposed. Laurel, against males for the first time, was disappointing, his rider reporting that she hung left.
Placed horses target Royal Ascot revenge
Chindit and Berkshire Shadow are likely to renew rivalry with Modern Games at Royal Ascot next month after chasing home the dual Breeders’ Cup winner in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury.
Hannon said of the runner-up: “I’m delighted with him. He travelled great and was a happy horse. He has improved physically. He has a middle to him now, which he didn’t have earlier in his career. There is one of these coming his way. He goes to the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.”
Another horse to outrun his odds was Andrew Balding’s Berkshire Shadow.
The grey has largely struggled to make an impact in Pattern company since his memorable success in the Coventry Stakes at the Royal meeting two years go, but returned for another stab at Group One honours following a couple of confidence-boosting wins on the all-weather. Those victories appear to have reignited the fire as he was beaten just two and a half lengths as a 33-1 shot, leading Balding to also target a rematch with the winner in the Queen Anne.
He said: “He’s a grand horse. He ran very well in the 2000 Guineas last year. His form tailed off a bit, but he’s a different horse this year. I think he will win us a decent race, because he really likes fast ground. Yesterday’s rain wasn’t that helpful for him. He’ll go for the Queen Anne and then we can decide where we go down the road after that.”
My Prospero, not seen since finishing a close-up third in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October, is also bound for the Royal meeting – but he will revert to a mile and a quarter for the Prince of Wales’s Stakes instead of sticking to the mile.
His trainer, William Haggas said: “He needs further. He was going to get stuffed and then he stayed on again. It was a good run. He is just not quick enough for these, but he should come on for that. He will be a player in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. That will just do him good.”
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