Modern Games

NEWMARKET, UK--Dawn hasn't even broken on Thursday morning at Godolphin's Moulton Paddocks and trainer Charlie Appleby is discussing with his lieutenants Marie Murphy and Chris Connett which rugs to pack for his team of seven horses travelling to the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland. "That's 14 crates we're up to now," he says, rolling his eyes and smiling. "Wasn't like that back in the day." Appleby is a lifer when it comes to racing, from his days as a youngster working for Jackie Retter and Susan Piggott, to his role as...

NEWMARKET, UK--The Breeders' Cup has special resonance for Charlie Appleby, who trained his first Grade I winner at the championships not four months into his tenure as trainer for Godolphin back in 2013. That important first milestone was provided by Darley homebred Outstrip (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) in the Juvenile Turf, and if the American race fans didn't pay much attention to Appleby that day, they do now, for it was a win which set the tone for the years to follow, not just at the Breeders' Cup, but...

The Green Group Guest of the Week on the latest edition of the TDN Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland, commentator Nick Luck, who works both sides of the Atlantic, was asked what are the best storylines out of Europe when it comes to this year's Breeders' Cup. With a deep and talented group of shippers coming to Keeneland, there was no shortage of answers, starting with the story of Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night of Thunder {Ire}). "I think Highfield Princess is right up there as one of the great...

Charlie Appleby is readying a strong team for the Breeders' Cup, headed by globetrotting millionaire Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), while Jane Chapple-Hyam has given the green light for dual Group 1 winner Saffron Beach (Ire) (New Bay {GB}) to make the trip to Keeneland next month. Appleby boasts a tremendous record at the meeting, winning six Breeders' Cup races from just 11 attempts and he has some proven travellers bidding to enhance that record this year. Leading the charge is last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Modern...

Shadwell's Baaeed (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will conclude his racing career against eight rivals in Saturday's £1.3-million QIPCO Champion S. at Ascot, with the unbeaten luminary drawn in stall one as the final fields were confirmed on Thursday morning. Like the 2016 hero Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), the William Haggas flagbearer is on the inside in a contest that should be staged on ground no worse than soft and very likely good-to-soft. Last year's Derby and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. hero Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB})...

The latest edition of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR) were released Thursday, with winners from Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe weekend climbing into prominent positions on the list. Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) ran his seasonal record to six wins from as many appearances with a spectacular performance in the G1 Qatar Prix du Cadran over 4000 metres, where he had some 20 lengths between him and the next-nearest competitor. Also victorious this term in the G1 Gold Cup, G1 Goodwood Cup and G1 Irish St Leger, the 4-year-old...

When last seen on these shores, Godolphin's Modern Games (Ire) (c, 3, Dubawi {Ire}--Modern Ideals {GB}, by New Approach {Ire}) was embroiled in the controversy of all controversies, when erroneously scratched, then allowed to run--albeit for purse money only--in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, which he duly won. The homebred is likely back on his way to the Breeders' Cup after pummeling overmatched rivals by five lengths in Saturday's GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile, for which Modern Games earns an all-expenses-paid trip to Keeneland. Allowed to drift back to sit...

Three Grade I events, all of which are Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' qualifiers, north of the border at Woodbine will take the spotlight among nine graded stakes this Saturday as the racing calendar transitions to fall with all of the major summer meets now wrapped up. The $1-million GI Ricoh Woodbine Mile serves, along with the Queen's Plate, as the centerpiece of the Woodbine meet, and this year's renewal features an 11-horse field that includes last year's winner Town Cruise (Town Prize), who will be looking to bounce...

by the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation  In an unusual incident on Tuesday, Sept. 6, a horse reported to betting outlets as a scratch for 40 minutes prior to the start of a pick four sequence at Mountaineer Park was later unscratched after betting was closed and allowed to race. Remarkably, all pick four bets placed were paid to the actual results. "There are some similarities to the Modern Games (Ire) incident from last year's Breeders' Cup," said TIF Executive Director Patrick Cummings, "and it proves that wagering rules are in desperate...

Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin was named 2021 National Owner of the Year, presented by 1/ST, and also Breeder of the Year during the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA)'s National Awards Dinner held Sept. 10 at Keeneland. The event was emcee'd by TVG's Gabby Gaudet. Horses carrying the Godolphin blue won 84 races from 479 starts in America in 2021, for a strike rate of 18% and purse money of better than $17 million, led by champion Yibir (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf. Godolphin also won...

Can we have too much of a good thing? When it comes to racing in the spring the answer is almost certainly not, but the rapidity with which all the decent action takes place can make it difficult to take it all in. For example, in the last 11 days we have had three Derby favourites. First the horse who had held that honour all winter, Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who was then replaced by his stable-mate Stone Age (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), all the rage after his Derby Trial victory...

PARIS, France--When Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) beat Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) to give Godolphin a one-two in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas, it was the perfect finishing order for the operation as breeders, with Coroebus representing three generations of Darley/Godolphin breeding. He is also out of a mare by Teofilo (Ire) and from a family which had already given Sheikh Mohammed a dual winner of his beloved Dubai World Cup. In Paris on Sunday, another son of the Darley lynchpin Dubawi, Modern Games (Ire), added a French Classic to...