Cynane wins her May 11 debut at Belmont Park under Javier Castellano (Chelsea Durand)
By Tim Wilkin for Kentucky Downs
FRANKLIN, Ky.— The day that a dark bay filly was purchased for $250,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, trainer Tom Morley told himself this young horse would one day run at Royal Ascot.
He was right about that.
Once the filly named Cynane came into his barn, he was sure of another thing, too. No one would be able to pronounce her name. Correct again.
“For two months we referred to her as the horse that no one could say her name,” Morley said with a laugh by phone from Belmont Park.
For the record, Cynane is pronounced Key-Na-Ney. Simple, right?
And she can run a little bit, too. Morley will be in the house Sunday to saddle Cynane in the $500,000 Global Tote Juvenile Fillies Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at the FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs.
She was scheduled to leave New York at lunchtime Thursday and van 15 hours for an early Friday morning arrival. The daughter of Omaha Beach has traveled mightily before. Her itinerary to Royal Ascot had her leaving Belmont Park, then to Churchill Downs, then to Indianapolis, then a flight across the pond. Morley says the trip took four days.
She had won her debut fairly easily with jockey Javier Castellano aboard at Belmont on May 11.
Then it was on to England where she finished 10th in the field of 28 over ground that was not to her liking. Two days before her race in the Queen Mary, England received a lot of rain.
“The ground softened up a lot, which she doesn’t like,” Morley said. ”In hindsight, I probably should have waited two days and run her in the Albany over there on better ground. I thought she ran very well up in the middle of the track where you really didn’t want to be. She galloped out absolutely fantastic. Javy said, ‘Tom, I nearly ended up back in my hotel in Windsor the way she galloped out!”
After a short reset, Cynane was back in the barn and Morley was looking for a new challenge. Here they are. Originally, the plan was to run her in the 1 1/16 P.G. Johnson on the grass at Saratoga on Aug. 30 but that was washed off the turf. The audible brought her to Kentucky Downs.
Right from the start, Morley was impressed with the poise Cynane showed. It was evident almost as soon as she left the Keeneland sales ring.
She started at Raul Reyes’ King’s Equine Training Center in Ocala, Fla., and came to Morley’s New York barn at the start of March. Then came the first test and she passed and then it was off to England.
“She has never missed a beat from the day we purchased her,” Morley said.
Her first two starts came at five furlongs. The Juvenile Fillies will be run at a mile.
“She has a real two-turn pedigree,” Morley said. “Her dam (Burning Arch by Arch) is a half-sister to Point of Entry and they all won stakes going two turns in America. (Cynane) has done a lot of growing. She is a longer filly with plenty of leg under her. The mile should hit her right between the eyeballs.”
The trip overseas helped Cynane mature even more than she already had. For a young horse, Morley sees a creature with an old soul. He expects good things from her, a top effort at Kentucky Downs.
I think she was incredibly grown up before going over (to Royal Ascot) and that’s the only reason I decided to take on the trip,” Morley said. “You would think she was a seasoned pro the way she has handled herself.
“I would think she has a huge chance (Sunday),” he said. “Even with natural improvement, it should make her one of the favorites. I have been longing to stretch her out. The fact that she has already had a run over an undulating race course must be to her advantage.”
