Asfoora completes crucial gallop at Flemington as Henry Dwyer-trained mare prepares to defend Royal Ascot crown
Royal Ascot champion Asfoora has tuned up for her Group 1 King Charles III crown defence with a slick straight gallop at Flemington on Friday.
Asfoora, trained by Henry Dwyer, will be floated to Sydney next week before another European odyssey, starting at Royal Ascot on June 18.
The short turnaround from long haul flight, '38 to 40 hours door to door', to race day the only concern for Dwyer, trying to become the first international trainer to defend a Royal Ascot title.
'That would be a nice (achievement),' Dwyer said.
'There's another stat, no Australian horse has ever won a race in France, no Australian-trained horse has ever raced in Ireland, there's all sorts of little things we could tick off along the way for a bit of posterity I suppose.
'When you train 40 horses or something at Ballarat you're not probably going to be training Melbourne Cup winners, little victories like breaking new ground is what it's all about, she was able to do it last year and we could tick off a couple more boxes this year.'
Asfoora clocked a solid 44.8 seconds for the last 800m and finished alongside Winnasedge, trained by Nick Ryan, in the 900m course proper jump out.
Royal Ascot champion Asfoora has tuned up for her Group 1 King Charles III crown defence with a slick straight gallop at Flemington on Friday. Story: @gilbertgardiner ðŸ'‡ https://t.co/tjMqVBIMRS pic.twitter.com/s9SV4B4vD0
— News Racing (@superracing) May 23, 2025
• Limited options force Ruakaka to launch Sandown raid
'I thought she was really good this morning, we needed to come here and have a solid hit out,' Dwyer said.
'She hasn't raced for, I think the Sangster was four weeks ago, and she's now three weeks before Ascot, we're in a tricky position where we needed to freshen up after what was a bit of a flat run last time probably because of a busy time before it.
'We had a week or 10 days of doing nothing with her and built up to this trial, we tried to use it as a bit of a quasi race to get one in the bank before she goes.'
Asfoora has done it!!! She wins the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot! You beauty! 🇦🇰 @HDwyerRacing pic.twitter.com/1WMat9Voye
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) June 18, 2024
•
Asfoora is likely to gallop only once in England before the King Charles III, with Dwyer mindful of the travel toll.
'Last year, from experience, we know she was a bit flattened by the trip, we had four weeks before her first run at Haydock and another three weeks after that to fine tune her,' Dwyer said.
'Whereas this year we haven't got that luxury … she's flying in and racing two weeks later.
'She needed the hit out, the intention was to go out there, travel for 800m and give her a push the last 100m.
'She seems to have pulled up really well from it, she's fit, it's just a matter of having an unbelievably lucky trip like we did last year, nothing went wrong and there were no setbacks.'
Dwyer has all but locked in champion jockey Oisin Murphy to ride Asfoora again at Royal Ascot.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
32 minutes ago
- ABC News
Warrawong High School soccer players train with Real Madrid Foundation
Lexi Taylor was not a big soccer fan, but that changed when she heard about an extracurricular program run by one of the world's most well-known football clubs. The Real Madrid Foundation program aims to encourage healthy habits in adolescence through soccer, and operates at two low socio-economic schools in Australia. For the 17-year-old from Warrawong High School, in southern Wollongong, the real attraction was the chance to travel overseas. "I always thought it was too hard … [and] I'd never be able to save that much money," she said. But a 12-day trip to the Spanish capital was not going to happen without some hard work. All the expenses, except flights, were paid by the Real Madrid Foundation. But Lexi said it was her responsibility to save enough money and organise her first passport, all while managing the workload of year 12. "I would work at least six times a week," she said. "We got my passport three weeks later than we expected which was super stressful." At the end of last month, Lexi packed her suitcase with a jersey for star player Jude Bellingham to sign and boarded a flight bound for Madrid alongside 19 other students. Personal development, health and physical education teacher Samantha Bell escorted the group on behalf of Warrawong High School and said they were given special access to some of Real Madrid's coaching staff and training facilities. "The kids were blown away by the facilities," she said. "Everything was just so immaculate. And every session we had, had specialised coaches and first aid to check in on injuries." The students were even able to store their gear inside the club's change rooms and dress in the iconic black and white uniform. "It felt like a real 'wow' moment for them," Ms Bell said. "It was something they hadn't experienced before. Plans to meet some of Real Madrid's best players after their winning La Liga match against Real Sociedad were cancelled last minute due to the announced retirement of Luca Modric. "[I was] a bit disappointed but at least we got to see the players train," said 15-year-old Mohammed Al-aesawi. "Some of the players said hello to us from the balcony. "That in itself was more than enough." Ms Bell said since returning to the classroom, there had been a "massive" surge in students wanting to join the Real Madrid Foundation program. "We only took 20 students away and now our program has 55 students enrolled in it," she said. "So we are in the process of how to re-timetable that for the school." During their first post-trip training session last week, many students agreed the program had helped them both on and off the soccer pitch. "I'm now saving for a car," Lexi said. Victoria Ugarte from the Real Madrid Foundation said plans were underway to expand the program into more Australian schools. "We are talking to a Sydney school at the moment … and some in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales," she said.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Why Lachlan Galvin's Canterbury debut is the first gaGalvin's Bulldogs debut is the first game of the rest of his NRL lifeme of the rest of his NRL life
Lachlan Galvin has never, in his life, played in a game like Monday and from the looks of things there will be many more of them to come. It wasn't just the monster crowd of 59,878 that came to see Canterbury take on Parramatta — plenty of players go their whole careers without an audience like that outside of State of Origin or a grand final. The cold and the wet were never going to keep the blue and white army away, not when their team entered the round top of the league and are now into the second half of a season that has premiership aspirations. The Eels fought hard and made the Bulldogs work for it after a strong first half. But Canterbury turned the screws expertly in the final quarter of the match to grind out another win, as expected — and that's the difference between this game and all the others Galvin has played at the top level. In signing with Canterbury, Galvin has linked with one of the best teams in the competition and the expectations are radically different to anything he experienced in his 18 months with Wests Tigers. At the joint venture, Galvin was in a relatively low-pressure environment. The wins and the losses still mattered, because in first grade they all matter, but the stakes were nowhere near as high, and in choosing Canterbury and moving there mid-season, Galvin has upped the ante on himself. Given the way they've started the season, every match the Bulldogs play from here on out will likely prove crucial in the premiership race. They are heavyweights and the intensity and attention paid to them reflect that status. Going from a rebuilding club to a true premiership contender halfway through a season is an enormous jump in responsibility for any player, let alone a 20-year-old with exactly a season and a half under his belt. But confidence has rarely been an issue for Galvin. It never felt likely he would be overawed, even accounting for the media circus surrounding his move and his first showing for the Bulldogs was a good one. He came on at halfback with 25 minutes to go, with Canterbury up by two and both sides ripping in and showed a cool head by getting involved without chasing after the game madly. Galvin had some nice moments and they all came within the rhythm of the Bulldogs process. He did not overplay his hand, but straightened the attack nicely for Viliame Kikau's key try and got one of his own to finish things off by pushing up in support on the back of an offload. His teammates swamped him and the crowd erupted as though he'd been a Bulldog his whole life. It was a fine debut, one which tantalised with its possibility. The challenge now for Galvin is doing it again and again and again as the games get bigger and the stakes get higher. At the Tigers, if he went off the boil for a few weeks like all young players and especially young halves can from time to time, it was easier to excuse. They were in a process of regeneration and he was barely getting started in his career. He was still finding his way and ups and downs are all part of that process. Making mistakes and learning from them or hitting flat spots and fighting through them are part of growing up, as a footballer and a person. But things are different now. Galvin is still young but this move has accelerated his own timeline. These days of coming off the bench will not last long and the time draws near when he will start at halfback for Canterbury and the weight of the challenge of greatness will be upon his broad shoulders because that's exactly what this team was aspiring to even before he arrived. He won't have to carry it alone. The Bulldogs are a team who find strength in their numbers and every week a new player seems to step up when needed to make the difference. Against Parramatta, it was young prop Harry Hayes who backed up Kurt Mann to score a key try and ran for 218 metres off the bench. It's that depth across the park that makes Canterbury so dangerous and why great things feel possible for them in 2025. Their win over Parramatta had all the hallmarks of some of their best wins this year — there was the utter devotion to their process, ball control that starved the opposition of any opportunity and an ability to invariably come home stronger. As a team, the Bulldogs are good at these things because they've done them before. The success it has delivered them over the past 18 months was likely a big factor in attracting Galvin in the first place, but now he must do the same in order to justify his presence there. Through this whole saga, Galvin has shown an ability to leave the drama behind when he hits the field. Blessed with the certainty of youth, the pressure of his situation has not gotten to him yet despite the constant talk and a spotlight that grows harsher all the time. Now it will be a different kind of pressure, less hyperbolic but certainly more concentrated. He is no longer the best thing about one of the worst teams in the league, he is a finishing touch, the final piece of a puzzle that was already looking close to completed. If he plays like he did in the 25 minutes on Monday, Galvin can take the Bulldogs even higher — but that's not what the blue and white faithful will hope for, it's what they will expect. He is no longer a player of the future on a team dreaming of the days when success may come, but a player of the present on a team who feel close to glory. Canterbury can aspire to be the best, so the best is what will be expected. Such is his talent, Galvin was always going to cross this bridge eventually but now he has done there's no way back to how it was before. He's moved into a new world and must learn to master it and at the top end of the ladder patience is hard to come by.
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
On The Punt: Seymour best bets for Tuesday, June 10, 2025
News Corp form analyst Chris Vernuccio takes a look at Tuesday's Seymour meeting with his best bet in the last race.
