'He'll go down as one of the most consistent we've trained' - Modern Games delivers again with Lockinge win

Modern Games might have begun last season behind Coroebus and Native Trail in the pecking order for three-year-old milers at Charlie Appleby's acclaimed Godolphin yard, but he could be about to assume the role of stable star after a taking victory in the Al Shaqab Lockinge Stakes.

A homebred by Sheikh Mohammed's brilliant stallion Dubawi, Modern Games was a Breeders' Cup winner at two, but was rerouted to the Poule d'Essai des Poulains last spring, which he won, while Coroebus and Native Trail secured a 1-2 for the outfit in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.

Further solid efforts were posted by the likeable, but still unheralded, colt in the Prix du Jockey Club, Jean Prat and Sussex Stakes before another top-flight success in the Woodbine Mile preceded a second Breeders' Cup triumph in the prestigious Mile.

In beating Chindit and Berkshire Shadow in the £350,000 Lockinge, he was recording a fifth win at the highest level as well as providing Godolphin with a record-extending ninth victory in the event, Newbury's flagship race and one always on the agenda of champion milers, or horses with pretensions to be.

"I'm delighted for everyone – the team and Godolphin – but more importantly this horse," said Appleby, celebrating his first Lockinge. "He's probably one of the best Dubawis we've had. He's been a fantastic sire and we've been fortunate to train a lot of good horses by him, but this horse will probably go down as one of the most consistent we've ever trained, and consistent at the top level.

"That's his fifth Group/Grade 1 win now, but his first in England, which is what I think everyone was waiting to see.

"He did it in America as a juvenile, and in France, and then Canada and back to America."

William Buick did the steering on Modern Games, who is bound for the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 20 now.

Modern Games (left) goes clear in the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury on SaturdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

"It was an important day for him," added the trainer, who still campaigns Native Trail but not the ill-fated Coroebus. "To do that on home soil is a big feather in his cap.

"He started his career off with Native Trail and Coroebus. He was going out in the mornings with some star milers there and I think he showed that [he might be number one of those]. Not just on what he's achieved winning the French Guineas and winning in America, but finishing second to Baaeed in the Sussex was a huge run.

"I felt he gained a lot of support and recognition in England from that day onwards, although internationally he is well known."

He is certainly well known to Buick, who won his first Lockinge in the Godolphin blue on the Richard Fahey-trained Ribchester in 2017.

He did not ride the four-year-old for his first two starts when the jockey's great pal James Doyle was aboard, but it is safe to say Modern Games, whose half-sister Mawj recently won the 1,000 Guineas for Saeed bin Suroor, has left a lasting impression.

Buick said: "I really do have a soft spot for this horse. He's been right at the top table since he was a two-year-old and he's just a good, solid horse."

Pushed on whether the latest Lockinge winner was better than that, Buick added: "He is yeah, and he's going to be a champion if he carries on like that, and he still runs good races when things don't go his way. He was second to Baaeed last year in the Sussex Stakes and ran him close. We saw how good he was that day and he won the Breeders' Cup Mile, which is a really hard race to win.

"He's got an amazing constitution and had the best form in the race, but you always want to see them go and do it, and he's done it.

"I'm delighted he's been able to show how good he is. He's a top-class miler — end of."

Few would disagree with that statement should Modern Games win another Breeders' Cup Mile at the end of the year, and you sense he ought to be right at the top of the pecking order for that.

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