With Baaeed certain to start at long odds-on for the feature event on Champions Day, the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes makes more appeal from a betting point of view and Modern Games (3.20) may spring a minor upset at around 4-1 by defeating the warm favourite, Inspiral.
Charlie Appleby’s colt was possibly seen as the third-string, behind Coroebus and Native Trail, in the yard’s strong hand of three-year-old milers in the early stages of the season, but he followed up his win in the French 2,000 Guineas with a solid third from a bad draw in the French Derby before proving no match for Baaeed in the Sussex Stakes. That run confirmed that a mile is his trip and Modern Games took his form to a new level in a Grade One at Woodbine last time, accelerating five lengths clear of a classy opponent in Ivar.
