 |
|
| Staff Writer |
 |
Following her victory in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot, Asfoora may be gearing up for international ventures in France, Ireland, and America.
Trainer Henry Dwyer is considering various options for the 5YO mare, who delivered an impressive performance during her British debut in the Temple Stakes at Haydock and later triumphed in Tuesday's Group One sprint.
Although the immediate plan includes participating in the King George Qatar Stakes at Goodwood and the Coolmore Nunthorpe at York, the prospect of competing in Del Mar and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint has also emerged, thanks to her win at Ascot.
Dwyer mentioned on Luck On Sunday that the upcoming races will determine her future plans.
Speaking on Luck On Sunday the trainer said: "The fact the Ascot race was a win and you’re in for Del Mar and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint probably opens that up a little bit more but it obviously depends on her form over the next couple of runs.
“At the end of the day she’s been on the go for a long time. She had a couple of runs in Australia in the autumn and hasn’t had a spell, I know you guys don’t spell horses, but she probably needs a break to freshen up.
“We’re giving her ten days in the paddock now and that will serve her well ahead if Goodwood.
“She has an extra two pounds there for winning on Tuesday, a Group One penalty rather than a Group Two, but with her rating going up for the win the other day she’ll probably still be well in anyway.
“And that’s our Haydock for Ascot, going into York. There’s a three-week gap between Goodwood and York which is perfect.
“We have in the back of our minds if she’s still going well we could go to France for the Abbaye or Ireland for the Flying Five, and France works well timewise if we do want to go to America.
“It’s four weeks after York and then another four to America which is pretty perfect with how we want to train her but obviously the horse comes first.”
And a return to Europe in 2025 is very much on the cards, driven primarily by a lack of significant targets back in Australia.
“It might be our only option. Last week there were four options for her back in Australia every year, two of them being handicaps, and now she’s rated out of those there’s only the Lightning Stakes down at Flemington and the AJ Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley in the spring," Dwyer added.
“They are both fine for her but there’s always a champion sprinter in Australia and we tend to find one too good for her. As we saw last week there’s probably a lack of depth here, lots of nice horses but no superstars, so it suits us here.
“She obviously handles the track well and handles the environment well. I don’t want to be traversing back here year on year but I just think with her it might be a necessary evil because of a lack of options at home.
“If she did get to America we may run in the Lightning in late February/early March so we can tune her up for that then Ascot may be on the radar again. But it all depends on her form.”