A change in gear is on the cards for Asfoora as she gears up for her return to Royal Ascot, with trainer Henry Dwyer considering the addition of blinkers for her upcoming run in the King Charles III Stakes next week.
Dwyer had long contemplated the gear change and saw an ideal opportunity after watching her work in blinkers on Newmarket’s July course earlier this week, clocking a strong 800m hit-out.
“I’ve always wanted to put blinkers on her but it’s always a bit hard to change things when they’re going really well,” Dwyer told RSN.
“It’s a bit of an itch to scratch with the blinkers and I reckon they will help her find a length a two.
“We threw them on in trackwork, just to make sure she would be OK with them, she was.
“I dare say we will put them on when she runs next Tuesday.”
Since her first-up win in the Group 3 Irwin Stakes (1100m) at Morphettville on April 12, Dwyer believes Asfoora may have eased off slightly in her work.
She subsequently finished seventh in the Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) on April 26 and then filled second spot in a 900m trial at Flemington on May 23.
“She won at Royal Ascot last year and we thought, ‘you can’t put them on now’,” Dwyer said.
“She won well first-up and I just thought she was entitled to go a bit better in Adelaide, despite the fact it was 1200 metres and despite the fact she was a bit flat, maybe.
“I thought she was a bit below her best and she trialled at Flemington just before she left and once again, she didn’t do as much as she should.
“Her recovery has been a lot better this preparation and I think it’s a legacy of her reserving her energy a bit more.
“She was always a bit wound up, but now she’s been a bit more complacent.
“I think she’s going well, but there’s just one thing missing, and I hope it’s the blinkers.”
Oisin Murphy, who was in the saddle during her European campaign last year, was again aboard for her recent gallop, and Dwyer acknowledged she’s not quite at the same level physically as she was in 2023.
“It wasn’t ideal how we went about getting here and I think she only looks a seven-out-of-ten,” Dwyer said.
“The work was fantastic, but there is room for improvement in her looks.
“Last year it was similar. She really blossomed from being here three or four weeks after having that first-up run leading into Ascot.
“This year we haven’t had that luxury. She looks scrubby, wintry and a bit dull and that’s just a legacy of spending an extra month in Ballarat in four-degree conditions as opposed to the other horses that have been here in summer for a bit.
“She will catch up when she reacclimatises, but it just hasn’t happened yet.”
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