Despite not achieving the fairy tale ending at the Royal Ascot meeting where she made her mark, trainer Henry Dwyer observed sufficient promise in Asfoora’s performance in the recent King Charles III Stakes to warrant continuing her racing career.
The decision to pursue a fourth European Group 1 victory, however, will be left to the mare herself.
The plan is for the now rising eight-year-old to head back to Australia for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season, with her departure date contingent upon her performance in as many as two potential races next month.
“She’s going into quarantine on the 31st of July to get back here for the breeding season at the start of September,” Dwyer confirmed.
“We can run her at Sandown on Saturday week in the five-furlong (1015m) Group 3 sprint there, the Sprint Stakes, which will be two-and-a-half weeks between runs and then there’s the Group 2 King George Stakes at Goodwood the day she’s supposed to go into quarantine.
“They’re two options for her before she comes home. But if she was to win one or both of them, which we’d be a chance to, then the Nunthorpe is three weeks later and the owners might be persuaded to put off getting her served by a month.”
The Group 1 Nunthorpe Stakes (1005m), a race Asfoora triumphed in last year, is scheduled for York on August 21.
Dwyer is optimistic that Asfoora will provide her owners with cause for consideration following a peak performance, especially after her two-length seventh place finish in last week’s King Charles III Stakes (1000m), a race she claimed in 2024.
“I think she ran near enough her best, she just blew out that last little bit,” Dwyer stated.
“Maybe off the back of two very soft runs she still needed it a bit the other day.
“She had a big blow, but at least she tried and I feel like her next run will be her peak run.”
Dwyer returned to Australia on Tuesday morning and is set to be back at Caulfield this Saturday, with Salsa Fellow slated to compete in the Sportsbet More Places BM84 Handicap (1100m) to conclude the day’s racing.
The four-year-old Blue Point gelding is embarking on the ninth start of his current campaign, which commenced at Flemington on New Year’s Eve and included successive victories at Terang and Warrnambool, prior to his fourth-place finish in the Golden Topaz (1200m) at Swan Hill.
“He’s had a long busy preparation, so he’s nearer the end of it than the start of it, but he seems pretty good,” Dwyer remarked.
“He’s getting up in the ratings now but he’s probably still got another couple of wins in him so we’ll just try and make the most of the off-season before the spring starts with him.”
Consider your options with Australian betting sites for the upcoming races.