Modern Games seeks home comforts in G1 Lockinge Stakes
Yibir, who runs in the G3 Al Rayyan Stakes, took the Champion Male Turf Horse title at the Eclipse Awards in 2021 following an exceptional campaign that culminated with an exhilarating victory in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf
Star miler Modern Games looks to add a domestic G1 to his glitering profile in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury in UK on Saturday, a card that also features fellow Eclipse Award winner Yibir and exciting sprint prospect Noble Style.
Modern Games has secured four G1 wins on the international stage, including a rare double at the Breeders’ Cup in the 2021 Juvenile Turf and 2022 Mile. The Dubawi colt enjoyed French Classic success in last season’s Poule d’essai des Poulains and was a dominant winner of the Woodbine Mile in Canada.
Having been crowned Champion Male Turf Horse at the 2022 Eclipse Awards, Modern Games headed back to North America for his seasonal return for Charlie Appleby in Keeneland’s G1 Maker’s Mark Mile, in which he finished strongly to take second.
Charlie Appleby said: “Hopefully, this will be the opportunity for Modern Games to win a G1 in the UK. The Maker’s Mark Mile proved a strangely run race from our perspective, but he came out of it well and heads to Newbury in great shape. We know that he is a crack miler and he goes here with the benefit of a run under his belt. Conditions at Newbury should suit, especially with the drying ground, and he is going to be a big player.”
Yibir, who runs in the G3 Al Rayyan Stakes, took the Champion Male Turf Horse title at the Eclipse Awards in 2021 following an exceptional campaign that culminated with an exhilarating victory in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Turf.
The Dubawi five-year-old was beaten a neck in last year’s G1 Dubai Sheema Classic and makes his first appearance since readily winning the G2 Princess Of Wales’s Stakes at Newmarket in July.
He is joined in the 12-furlong contest by Kemari, who won the G2 Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot in 2021 and filled the runner-up spot behind Global Storm on his most recent start in the G2 Dubai City Of Gold on Super Saturday at Meydan.
Appleby added: “Yibir suffered a setback ater winning in July but his preparation has gone well. He went for a racecourse gallop at Newmarket a couple of weeks ago and we were very pleased with how he went. If he can bring the level of form he showed as a three-year-old and what we saw last year, he is going to be the one they all have to beat.
“Kemari showed great consistency over the winter in Dubai and the ground should be lovely for him. He is a very straighforward horse in terms of his running style and will hopefully be very competitive if he can replicate his Meydan performances.”
Noble Style took high rank among Europe’s two-year-olds in 2022 following an unbeaten season that included a decisive win in York’s G2 Gimcrack Stakes. The Kingman colt drops back to six furlongs for the Listed Carnarvon Stakes following a creditable sixth in the G1 2,000 Guineas.
Appleby said: “Noble Style goes into this in good order on the back of a pleasing run in the 2,000 Guineas, when he was trying a mile for the first time on sot ground. We came out of that race with the mindset that sprinting was going to be the way forward. Working back from the Commonwealth Cup, we felt geting him back into a sprinting frame of mind here was the right thing to do. This looks a nice springboard onto Royal Ascot and we are very much looking forward to seeing him back over this trip.”
Debut all-weather winner Queen Of Fairies remains over a mile and a quarter at Listed level in the Haras de Bouquetot Fillies’ Trial ater coming home fith on her first turf outing in the Prety Polly Stakes at Newmarket’s Guineas Festival.
Appleby said: “Queen Of Fairies disappointed in the Prety Polly Stakes but we did have concerns beforehand over the ground, while the course might have caught her out as well. Returning to a more conventional track will hopefully help her to display the form that we have seen in her work at home.”
Bold Act completed a four-timer when beating subsequent German G3 winner Brave Emperor in a Chelmsford conditions race at the start of April. The son of New Approach returns to handicap company for the London Gold Cup having been gelded since finishing fith in the Listed Feilden Stakes at Newmarket’s Craven meeting.
Appleby said: “Bold Act was disappointing in the Feilden but we feel that a mile and a quarter is the right trip for him. He has done well since being gelded and comes here in great shape. He has a wide draw to overcome but looks a contender if you disregard his last run.”