Game on as Dwyer’s Asfoora set for Temple run
Daughter of Flying Artie set to kick off exciting northern hemisphere campaign at Haydock on Saturday
Henry Dwyer is hopeful his mare Asfoora (Flying Artie) can hit the top three when she tackles Saturday’s Temple Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) at Haydock, the first in a potential four-race northern hemisphere campaign.
Having made the long trip over to the UK from Dwyer’s Ballarat stable, the five-year-old mare has reportedly settled in well to her new surroundings at Amy Murphy’s Newmarket-based yard.
“She’s settled in better than I thought to be honest, she’s always been a filly that has been quite hard to deal with and a bit busy, but she did a bit of travel to Sydney last year and I think that really made her mentally,” Dwyer told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“She has been a lot better this preparation and even since she’s been here, she has come on again mentally I think, she’s a lot more settled…probably even more than she is at home.”
Dwyer revealed that the location of Murphy’s stable is a great benefit to his mare.
“I came over a couple of weeks before she did just to try and find her the right spot to stay,” Dwyer said.
“I’d say it’s probably a little bit busy for her further up on the town side of Newmarket, but we’ve got a little spot down Hamilton Road with Amy Murphy where it’s a quieter yard and she has her own little turnout paddock for the day.
“She can just go straight out the back gate onto the gallops, which is important for her. There is plenty of grass and she’s had a couple of gallops on the Polytrack there. She’s taken it all well and doing everything we need her to.”
Asfoora’s latest preparation in Australia has seen her take in three starts, running a first-up second in the Rubiton Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) in February before a tenth-placed finish, beaten just 2.5 lengths, in the Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) followed by a fourth in The Galaxy (Gr 1, 1100m), where she was beaten less than a length by winner Zapateo (Brazen Beau), when last sighted on March 23.
The daughter of Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) has won eight and placed in a further four of her 18 career outings, with four Group victories (two at Group 2 level) and a brace of placings at the elite level, including a second placing behind star sprinting mare Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) in the 2023 Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m), but Dwyer has admitted it is almost impossible to know how that form will stack up against what Britain and Ireland has to offer.
“I’ve got absolutely no idea how the form stacks up to be honest,” Dwyer admitted. “It’s hard to compare.
“Look, when she’s been at her right distance back home, she’s never run a bad race. Really the only things that have beaten her over 1000 and 1100 metres are bad luck, and Imperatriz!
“Once we’ve stepped up to 1200 metres she has found it a little bit difficult but that’s just been because there are no suitable races over her distance. She’s a good, honest mare, who tries hard, and in that suitable distance range she’s hard to beat.”
Saturday’s Group 2 sprint will see Asfoora go toe-to-toe with the likes of last year’s Nunthorpe Stakes (Gr 1, 5f) hero Live In The Dream (Prince Of Lir) and dual Group 3 scorer Vadream (Brazen Beau), but Dwyer is still expecting a bold showing from his mare, who will have the services of regular rider Mitch Aitken.
“It’s not the be all and end all this race, but we’d certainly want her to run well so that we then feel the trip over is justified,” he said.
“We’re going into it with the mindset that she can finish in the first three hopefully, and I’d be a bit disappointed if she wasn’t.
“But as I say, we don’t know the comparison between formlines, she could come out and win by four lengths, she could be beaten by four, it’s just hard to know before she steps out.”
The conditions across the UK on Wednesday were torrid, with rainfall almost country-wide, and Haydock’s official going description was updated on Thursday morning from ‘Good’ to ‘Soft’, with a chance of further rainfall predicted ahead of the weekend.
“She’s proficient on soft ground, I don’t know if she’s ever run on heavy, but she does like to get her toe in,” Dwyer said.
“Whether a very wet track or heavy track makes the 1000 metres first-up that bit tougher, that could be a problem, but she should certainly handle the ground ok.”
Following this weekend’s task, the plan for Asfoora is to head for the King Charles III Stakes (Gr 1, 5f) during next month’s Royal Ascot meeting, for which Oisin Murphy has been booked to ride, before potential cracks at the King George Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) at Glorious Goodwood and York’s Nunthorpe Stakes (Gr 1, 5f).
“Ascot might be a little bit stiff for her in truth, time will tell, but the other tracks work, Haydock has a bit of a rise while Goodwood and York are quite flat or even a little downhill.
“This is why we’re here, there’s a good series of five-furlong races for her over here. We’re not coming over because we think she’s the best sprinter in Australia, we’re coming over to have suitable contests. It’s cost a bit of money to get here, but hopefully she can repay that.”
Asked about which race Dwyer feels will be most suited to Asfoora’s running style, the answer was pretty confident, August’s Nunthorpe Stakes.
“Everyone wants a runner at Royal Ascot, but I feel the Nunthorpe is probably her best chance of winning a Group 1 race in the UK,” he said.
“She’ll need to be at her right form fourth-up, which is a pretty long preparation, but it is quite spread out so that suits.
“There’s a six-week break between Ascot and Goodwood, assuming we go there, and then there’s another three weeks into York so it all works out well.”
Plans have been made for Asfoora’s owner, Noor Elaine Farm’s Akram El-Fahkri, to be in attendance for the Ascot run, while Dwyer also revealed he has a band of friends and clients booked to make the journey for both the royal meeting and York at the back-end of August.
“Mr Al Fakhri that owns the horse is based in Melbourne and he will be over for Ascot next month and that will be it, so we’re on our lonesome,” Dwyer said.
“However, I have a big group of friends and clients that will be over for Ascot and then another set for York. We’re going to make a great time of it, that’s for sure.”
Saturday’s Temple Stakes will be run at 10.50pm (AEST).