Although Asfoora did not achieve the desired fairytale send-off from the Royal Ascot meeting, trainer Henry Dwyer observed enough in her performance in the King Charles III Stakes to advocate for the continuation of her racing career.
The decision regarding a potential fourth European Group 1 success, however, will ultimately rest with the mare herself.
The current strategy involves the rising eight-year-old returning to Australia for the Southern Hemisphere breeding season, with her departure date to be determined by her performance in up to two prospective 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 stated.
“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), which Asfoora conquered last year, is scheduled for York on August 21.
Dwyer feels confident Asfoora will give her owners significant food for thought with a peak performance on the horizon, following her two-length seventh in last week’s King Charles III Stakes (1000m), a race she won in 2024.
“I think she ran near enough her best, she just blew out that last little bit,” Dwyer commented.
“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 arrived back in Australia on Tuesday morning and is scheduled to be back at Caulfield this Saturday, with Salsa Fellow slated to compete in the Sportsbet More Places BM84 Handicap (1100m) that concludes the race day’s proceedings.
The four-year-old Blue Point gelding is set to make his ninth appearance this campaign, which commenced at Flemington on New Year’s Eve and featured back-to-back 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.”
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