DEL MAR, Calif. – Well, that was interesting. Modern Games delivered an explosive kick and won the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf as a dusk chill fell over Del Mar late Friday afternoon. That was the simple part of the race. Modern Games won for his owner and breeder, Godolphin, for trainer Charlie Appleby and for jockey William Buick, but he did not win for the bettors that had made him favored in this one-mile grass contest. Modern Games had prematurely been scratched from the Juvenile Turf, Del Mar stewards taking him out of the parimutuel pools after a scratch was called by veterinarians at the starting gate. The Modern Games scratch came a couple minutes after his stablemate Albahr had flipped in the adjacent starting gate and became entangled in the apparatus. As Albahr, quickly scratched, was being helped out of his precarious situation, Modern Games had come out of stall 1, quickly reined in by Buick and taken back behind the gate. There, according to the California Horse Racing Board, Modern Games was examined by the team of veterinarians that already had called his scratch into the stewards. :: BREEDERS’ CUP 2021: See DRF’s special section with recaps, results, charts, news, and more for each division The CHRB released a statement regarding the circumstances of the scratch and provided a spokesman to answer questions along with an official veterinary representative. According to the CHRB, the scratch took place because veterinarians at the starting point saw Modern Games rear in his stall and believed Modern Games then had broken through the gate on his own. Rather than wait and examine the horse to determine if he was fit to run, the scratch was called into the stewards by Dr. Chuck Jenkins, vets acting upon what they had observed before directly assessing Modern Games’s condition. After Buick brought his mount behind the gate again and an exam was performed, the decision was made to reverse course and permit the horse to run for purse money only. Tiz the Bomb, rallying stoutly, well beaten by the winner but best in a three-horse photo, crossed the wire second and thus was the parimutuel winner. He paid $17.60 as the fans paid their respects to the chaos with a sustained Bronx cheer. Single-race bets involving Modern Games were refunded, but multi-race wagers with the horse transferred to the post-time favorite, Dakota Gold, who finished fifth. Modern Games was very, very live in the betting, dropping from 3-1 to 2-1 in the win pool as the horses approached the starting gate. Albahr had been behaving badly behind the gate and was led into his stall riderless. Evidently responding to Modern Games’s restiveness next to him, he reared and flipped. The horse was trotted back to the stables, only superficially injured, and jockey Frankie Dettori was fine. Modern Games, however, had not broken through his stall. Buick said that as Albahr struggled next to him an assistant starter opened Modern Games’s stall doors and the colt came out, as though the race were starting. Appleby, watching near the finish line as Albahr was taken off the track, answered a phone call, hung up, and told people around him that Modern Games also had been scratched because of “a nick.” This, according to Buick, was not the case. Buick said his mount was led behind the gate, where he and the assistant starter explained to officials what had taken place. But by then, it was too late. “I didn’t quite know what happened,” Buick said. “The horse took it really well, managed to refocus. He’s a real pro and did what he had to do.” :: DRF Bets players get free Daily Racing Form Past Performances and up to 5% weekly cashback. Click to learn more. After a long delay, the 13 remaining runners were loaded again, Modern Games breaking slightly tardy before Buick niftily pushed him inside first Slipstream and then Glounthaune to get into fifth as the field hit the first turn. Portfolio Company led, an eager Coinage pressed in second, and Dubawi Legend, tugging strongly on the bit, his mouth agape, tracked those two with Grafton Street losing ground racing wide with no cover. Grafton Street moved early, going to engage the two leaders past the half-mile pole, and midway around the bend, Buick began riding Modern Games. “I thought he was coming under the pump a little earlier than expected because he’s always a great traveler,” Appleby said. No worries. Modern Games is a compact model, athletic and quick, and Buick took him off the inside at the quarter pole, going all the way out to the No. 5 path to make his run. Modern Games leveled off beautifully, dug his toes into the turf, and mowed down the quintet in front of him, collaring Grafton Street at the sixteenth pole en route to a two-length victory. “He jumped a little bit slow from the gate, but he had a good position on the inside and was a very good winner,” Buick said. “He had a good kick in the stretch.” Tiz the Bomb, the parimutuel winner, also kicked strongly, rallying from second-last at the three-furlong marker under Brian Hernandez Jr. “We got a little farther back than we needed to be, but my horse when I called on him he came running big time,” Hernandez said. Mackinnon edged a tiring Grafton Street for third. Dakota Gold, who got a great trip, was right behind Grafton Street and just in front of Slipstream, who tried to follow the winner but couldn’t match his acceleration. Then came a gap to Stolen Base who was followed by Coinage, Portfolio Company, Dubawi Legend, Great Max, Glounthaune, and Credibility. Winning time for the mile over firm turf was 1:34.72 and Modern Games earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 87. Modern Games, by Dubawi out of Modern Ideals, by New Approach, won his third race in a row, improving off his Group 3 Somerville Stakes win on Sept. 23.   “He was a class horse coming into the race an improving horse, a horse we felt had the right criteria to be a big contender, and all credit to him for what he had to go through,” Appleby said. “He’ll join our [2,000] Guineas team now.” Ken McPeek, Tiz the Bomb’s trainer, stood with his arms crossed on the horse path leading from track to paddock. His horse’s number had just flashed as the winner on the tote board while someone else’s horse had gone into the winner’s circle. “I ran a winner and he lost anyway. It’s very, very unusual. I guess I’ve seen it all,” McPeek said.