Course: Woodbine
Race: Race 7
Horse: Mysterious Night
Trainer/Jockey: Charlie Appleby – William Buick
Breeding: 2-year-old colt; Dark Angel – Mistrusting (Shamardal)
A winner of two of his five starts. Representing the same barn as last year’s winner Summer Stakes winner Albahr, Mysterious Night hasn’t quite achieved the same level of form as his stablemate, but he does have some obvious similarities with that horse. Like Albahr, Mysterious Night is a progressive, tough sort who comes here off the back of a career-best victory, having landed a Group 3 at Deauville. Prior to that he had finished a couple of lengths ahead of Dandy Man Shines, who recently finished third in the Grade 3 Juvenile Turf Stakes at Del Mar having experienced a troubled passage, so there is a little line there as to how Mysterious Night might stack up here. We figure he can run to a Beyer of 79 or so, a number that should make him very difficult to beat on paper.
Course: Woodbine
Race: Race 9
Horse: Finest Sound
Trainer/Jockey: Simon Crisford – Andrea Atzeni
Breeding: 5-year-old gelding; Exceed And Excel – Amplifier (Dubawi)
A winner of four of his twenty starts, Finest Sound is something of a slow burner, but seems to be peaking now aged five. He started off in handicap races but has steadily climbed the grades, although remarkably he is still yet to win at Stakes level. He did, however, run a fine 2nd in a Group 1 at Meydan in the Spring, and in a Group 2 at Goodwood on his most recent start. The horse who beat him there, Jadhoomi, has since won impressively with a penalty in another Group 2 and is probably a Group 1 horse in the making. That, therefore, was a pretty good effort, and we believe he is capable of running to a Beyer of around 99 – his yard is flying and he handles most going.
Horse: Modern Games
Trainer/Jockey: Charlie Appleby – William Buick
Breeding: 3-year-old colt; Dubawi – Modern Ideals (New Approach)
A winner of five of his ten starts, Modern Games will be well-known to American horseplayers following his victory in bizarre circumstances in last year’s Juvenile Turf. He has had a solid season since, winning the French 2000 Guineas on his return and running well in their Derby, before a slightly below-par effort next time in the Prix Jean Prat. His next run was better, bouncing back to form when beaten less than two lengths by the mighty Baaeed. A slow pace compressed the winning distances there, so it’s not worth taking that victory too literally, but nonetheless Modern Games is still likely to start as favourite here based on his overall body of work. We think a 101 Beyer is within his capabilities, but that wouldn’t be an insurmountable figure for the others, and he could be a little overbet. One to watch in the market, as he may be causing overlays elsewhere.
