Cynane Makes Two-Turn Debut in P.G. Johnson

VinLaur Racing Stables, West Paces Racing, and Rainbow's End Racing Stable's promising Cynane  will attempt to make a splash in her stateside return in the Aug. 30 running of the listed $150,000 P.G. Johnson Stakes for 2-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles over the Saratoga Race Course inner turf.

Cynane arrives from a 10th-place finish, beaten eight lengths, in the Queen Mary Stakes (G2) June 21 at Royal Ascot, which was won by fellow American invader Crimson Advocate .

Cynane, a dark bay daughter of leading freshman stallion Omaha Beach  , glowed in her career debut, besting next-out winner Sam's Treasure  by 2 3/4 lengths in gate-to-wire fashion when traveling five furlongs May 11 at Belmont Park under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who maintains the mount from post 6.

The P.G. Johnson will mark a first two-turn try for Cynane, but trainer Tom Morley said both her pedigree and conformation lead him to believe that the added ground won't be out of reach.

Named after the ancient princess of Macedon and half sister to Alexander the Great, Cynane is out of the two-time winning Arch mare Burning Arch , whose half sister Cat's Claw  captured the Spa's 12-furlong Waya Stakes in 2014. She hails from prominent Phipps-owned bloodlines and comes from the same family as multiple grade 1 winner on turf Point of Entry   as well as grade 1 winners Pine Island  and Pleasant Home .

"She's tall, she's leggy, and she's been growing like a weed all year. Her pedigree is full of stamina on the dam side. It's a proper two-turn American turf pedigree from the Phipps family," Morley said. "Even after the Ascot race, Javier said, 'I could not pull her up, the sooner we can go further, the better.' So, I'm extremely excited to see how she goes."

Morley spoke of how well Cynane handled her international journey despite having only raced once. During her time in England, she was stabled at the Newmarket yard of English trainer Charlie Fellowes.

"The Ascot trip was only ever on because she has such a good mind. This filly took the trip better than I did, to be honest. She looked fabulous at Newmarket, she acquitted herself very well on the softened ground," Morley recalled. "She then had a week off at Newmarket, flew back and spent two weeks at Hidden Brook Farm in Kentucky in a field for some downtime. She came up to Belmont in the middle of July and has not missed a beat. She had four lovely pieces of work—two on the dirt and then her last two have been here on the Oklahoma (turf) and we're extremely excited about running."

Thomas Brockley and Daryn A. Brockley's Brocknardini  will step up to open stakes company after defeating New York-breds on debut for trainer George Weaver.

Bred in the Empire State by Thirty Year Farm, the bay daughter of Palace Malice   passed the two-turn test when recording an 84 Equibase Speed Figure in her 4 3/4-length victory over the Saratoga inner turf Aug. 2.

Meet leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. will pilot Brocknardini from post 7.

Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown will seek his fifth P.G. Johnson victory when he saddles Wise Racing's Hard to Justify . The daughter of 2018 Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year Justify   displayed two-turn capabilities in her July 23 Spa debut over the inner turf with a wide sweeping move in the upper stretch and finishing a head to the better of fellow late-charger Appellate .