Henry Dwyer’s Asfoora earned the first Group 1 of her career at one on one of horse racing’s biggest stages. The five-year-old mare won the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot on Tuesday.
Asfoora ($6), who was one of the betting sites favourites, lived up to the high expectations around her, winning convincingly by a length.
Regional ($7) finished second, followed by the horse racing betting favourite Big Evs ($3.25) in third.
Prior to the King Charles III Stakes, the horse racing bookmakers in Australia were all in agreement that Big Evs ($3.25) was the huge favourite.
Beyond that, Asfoora, Regional, and Believing were among the other contenders, but none of them really stood out compared to the favourite. In the end, Asfoora rose above the rest.
Asfoora ran near the stand side for much of the race The mare and co-outsider Regional a six horse pack, while favourite Big Evs led the main pack near the inside rail.
The eventual winner drifted to the inside during the final 400m. She finished her race with a brilliant sprint down the stretch.
Asfoora has won nine wins in 20 starts. She is the sixth ever Australian-trained horse to win the King Charles III Stakes.
No one was happier with Asfoora’s win than her trainer Henry Dwyer.
“I'm really struggling for words,” the Victoria-based trainer said after the race.
“We've come a long way from Ballarat. Just an amazing experience from start to finish.
“It was a bit of an audacious plan. We copped a bit of stick back home for bringing her over because she wasn't seen as one of our better sprinters but we were just so confident she was really, really textbook, wheelhouse, five furlongs and she's proven that today.
“She's no Black Caviar or Nature Strip but she's a very good sprinter in her own right and she's proved she's up to it.”
Trainer Henry Dwyer was not the only one stunned by Asfoora’s strong. Winning jockey Oisin Murphy was ecstatic after the race and full of praise for his mount.
“She performed on the day. How good was she” Murphy said.
“Regional gave me the perfect tow to halfway, he gave me a nice lead. She lugged a little bit right under pressure but how good was she at the line?
“It's hard to win Group 1s, the King Charles III Stakes is a massive race. I'm delighted. Royal Ascot day one, to win a Group 1, brilliant.”
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