English-born trainer Tom Morley will be represented by his first runner at Royal Ascot on Wednesday when Cynane (Omaha Beach) lines up for the G2 Queen Mary Stakes.
A winner on debut at Belmont Park in May, the filly will be ridden by Javier Castellano. Castellano, who is currently enjoying a fantastic season having won the Kentucky Derby on Mage (Good Magic) and Belmont Stakes on Arcangelo (Arrogate).
Morley, the nephew of Gold Cup-winning trainer David Morley has been training in America for ten years. He previously worked in Newmarket for Jeremy Noseda and Ed Dunlop.
“When we saw this filly at the Keeneland September sales, I really had a feeling that I was looking at a horse that was very similar to the type that my ex-boss, Jeremy Noseda, went to America and purchased with a view to races like the Cheveley Park and the Queen Mary,” said Morley of Cynane, who has been stabled in Newmarket ahead of her Royal Ascot bid.
“It has always been in the back of my mind and a little bit of a plan that maybe she could turn out to be a Royal Ascot filly if she was precocious enough and if she was fast enough to win on debut. Fast forward to five weeks ago at Belmont when she crossed the line and the dream was really in motion then.”
Cynane is owned by three ownership groups, VinLaur Racing Stables, West Paces Racing and Rainbow's End Racing Stable.
Morley added, “She's arrived in fantastic condition. She arrived very hydrated and has eaten fabulously since she got here. She's got a wonderful mental outlook on life; we've always believed that she had the right mind to take a trip like this.”
In 1997, the trainer's uncle saddled Celeric (GB) (Motto {GB}) to win the Gold Cup for his late owner-breeder Christopher Spence, an occasion which would prove pivotal in the life of the young Morley.
He recalled, “My mother and father took me out of school when Celeric won the Ascot Gold Cup and that was the first time I went to Royal Ascot and the last time that I ever considered doing anything else in my life but training racehorses.”
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