Who To Follow At Del Mar On Friday

Del Mar 00:30

1(1)

Modern Games

William Buick

Charlie Appleby

Age: 2

Weight: 8-10

OR: N/A

The final race carrying us into early Saturday morning is the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and we feel the Europeans will get off the mark heading into the weekend.

Modern Games, a nicely bred son of Dubawi, has been progressing race by race for Charlie Appleby and his victory in the Tattersalls Stakes at Newmarket last time out is a useful piece of form.

Andre Fabre’s horse in second that day had previously finished closer to Perfect Power, a horse many regard as the best juvenile in Europe, and Modern Games dealt with him much a little more ease.

A nice position on the front end can be crucial over 1m at Del Mar therefore Buick will be hoping to break sharply from stall 1 and gain a crucial advantage.

Form: 51211View

Date	Course	Distance	Type	Weight	Position
20/06/23	ASC	8	Gd	9-2	4
20/05/23	NBY	8	Gd	9-2	1
14/04/23	KEE	8	Fm	8-11	2
05/11/22	KEE	8	Fm	8-11	1
15/10/22	ASC	8	GS	9-3	2

Christophe Clement is the son of a successful French trainer Miguel Clement; he also worked for Luca Cumani in Newmarket.

He's placed in 12 Breeders Cup runs without ever quite getting one with its head in front, coming tantalizingly close on several occasions.

A closer look at his statistic reveals many of his Breeders’ Cup starters outran their odds or had the misfortune of butting heads with the short priced favourites.

On Friday he was two top entries worth noting in Derrynane and Pizza Bianca who each hold strong win claims.

He may just be worth keeping on side to finally get a winner over the line.

US jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. boasts a total of 11 wins, including eight in the past three years at the Breeders Cup making him one of the meetings top jockeys, winning a further 2 races last year.

Irad has a strong booking of rides on the opening day of the meet, representing top US trainer hopefuls Wesley Ward, Michael Maker and Brad Cox.

He's certainly one to keep on side across both days of the meeting.