New York-based trainer dreams of success at the famous venue that first ignited his passion for the sport – with Hall of Fame rider, fresh from his Belmont Stakes win on Arcangelo, set for UK debut
USA: Tom Morley makes regular pilgrimages to Royal Ascot. Next week, however, things will be different for the New York-based trainer as he will be present to saddle his first-ever runner at Britain’s premier meeting.
It was Royal Ascot that whetted English-born Morley’s appetite to become a racehorse trainer in the first place, the trainer having paid many social visits in the past.
His cousin Harry is one of the trustees at the famous racecourse – but the purpose of this latest visit is much more about business than pleasure.
Morley, who has trained 253 winners since starting his career in 2013, will saddle Cynane in the G2 Queen Mary Stakes on Wednesday’s card.
‘Much more serious than social’
“It’s much more serious than social,” he says. “Every trainer’s ambition is to take part in these big international meetings and we’ve had runners at the Breeders’ Cup and the Pegasus World Cup.
“But you have to have the right type of horse to come to Ascot,” he adds. “Not only one you think is fast enough but one that has the right mental capacity to take in an enormously long journey and still be ready to run when they get here.”
The daughter of Omaha Beach ticks those boxes, Morley believes, her having defeated a Wesley Ward-trained hotpot when getting off the mark on debut at Belmont Park in May.
“She won incredibly impressively, beating a $700,000 horse of Wesley Ward’s, which I always think is a good benchmark,” says the trainer, whose assistant is wife Maggie Wolfendale, who also works in racing TV for Fox Sports.
“That filly was the favourite and honestly could never get near my filly,” adds Morley. “Wesley’s came out of the gate a length in front of us but within 100 yards the race was over.
“She has a real staying pedigree but is very fast as well so I have no concerns about her trip. She should love the ground.”
Also journeying across the Atlantic to ride Cynane is top US-based jock Javier Castellano, who will be making his British debut after partnering the filly at Belmont.
It’s been a fabulous 2023 already for the Hall of Famer, who has won two legs of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby on Mage and Belmont Stakes on Arcangelo.
‘I had so much horse’
“Javier wouldn’t miss this for the world,” says Morley. “He was the one who said to me after the race: ‘We must go to Ascot. I had so much horse at the finish of the race’.”
Not that Morley needed much persuading. He comes as often as he can to the fixture where his late uncle David Morley won the Royal Ascot's oldest race, the Ascot Gold Cup, with Celeric in 1997. The experience left an indelible impression on his 14-year-old nephew.
“Winning a Gold Cup with a horse that was bred by your uncle, trained by another uncle and owned by your father and uncle was enormously special,” he says.
“It affirmed for me that this was what I wanted to do with my life. I spent a lot of wonderful summers in Newmarket with David and Mel [wife].”
When it was time to start training, Morley chose the US over the UK. In New York his major wins have included the 2016 Ballerina with Haveyougoneaway and 2018 Secretariat Stakes with Carrick.
“It’s a lot easier to start there,” he explains.” You don’t have to have a huge amount of capital behind you.
‘Easier to make a living’
“I literally started with one horse, one bridle and one saddle,” he recalls. “I looked after the horse myself and my girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, rode him out every day. He won his second race and it’s grown from there.
"The prize-money is also significantly more bearable and it’s a lot easier to make a living.”
Cynane is 55% owned by Greg Pulaski’s VanLaur Racing with the rest shared between the syndicates, West Paces Racing and Rainbow’s End Racing Stable. Up to 40 members of the ownership partnership are set to be on hand at Ascot.
“Hopefully we can run really respectably and we will have a happy group of owners by that point,” says Morley.
“As one of them said to me, these are the adventures that horse racing can take you on. That’s what it is for them.
“You don’t get a chance to own horses like this that often unless you are Barbara Banke,” he goes on. “It’s a very serious one for me. Since she broke her maiden I’ve said: ‘You guys are to enjoy this. I won’t, but you must!’”
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