No Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner has come back to win another Breeders’ Cup race, a trend Modern Games will be expected to end Nov. 5 in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile. Modern Games ran an exceptional race under exceptionally unfortunate circumstances winning the 2021 Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, where he was mistakenly scratched behind the starting gate before being permitted to race for purse money only. He was much the best in California at the end of his 2-year-old season and far better making his second North American start Sept. 17 at Woodbine, where Modern Games won the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile by 5 1/4 lengths. “Modern Games was super impressive,” jockey William Buick said after the Woodbine Mile. “He is very good when he gets fast ground and a good pace to run at.” The Woodbine Mile yielded a 112 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest North American turf figure during 2022. Modern Games has strong overseas form through Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up Vadeni and Baaeed, who is vying with Flightline to be the world’s best horse of 2022, and he could give Buick, trainer Charlie Appleby, and owner-breeder Godolphin their second straight BC Mile following Space Blues triumph last fall. One part of Buick’s post-Woodbine quotation – “when he gets fast ground” – could give the competition hope, since Keeneland in November is more likely to offer up a course rated good or yielding than one that might be called “fast.” :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2022: See DRF’s special section with top contenders, odds, comments, news, and more for each division Another European, Kinross, wouldn’t mind give in the ground at all, having just won the Group 1 Prix de la Foret on Oct. 2 racing seven furlongs at Longchamp, where the course was termed “very soft.” Space Blues won last year’s Mile after capturing the Foret, and the race often is a key one for the BC Mile. Saffron Beach, a leading overseas Mile hope, might not be coming to America at all after finishing eighth in the Sun Chariot Stakes, after which an endoscopic examination revealed upper-respiratory problems. The Ireland-based mare Pearls Galore was only sixth in the 2021 BC Mile but ran one of her better races posting a sharp front-running victory over strong competition, including Saffron Beach, in the Group 1 Matron last month at Leopardstown. Two races over the Breeders’ Cup course this weekend at Keeneland, the Coolmore Turf Mile and the First Lady, will help determine which American-based horses go to the Mile. Casa Creed starts in the Coolmore Mile and already has a Mile slot secured through his win in the Fourstardave at Saratoga, where he ran down leading mare Regal Glory, the likely First Lady favorite. Santin, another Godolphin colt, holds some interest cutting back from top-level success in 1 1/8-mile grass races, while Smooth Like Strait, second in the 2021 BC Mile, always runs his race, which almost always falls just short. The California cupboard appears bare this year, with top SoCal miler Count Again out of action and rising 4-year-old Hong Kong Harry not eligible to the Breeders’ Cup. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.