Royal Ascot winner Asfoora, trained in Australia by Henry Dwyer, is on course to return to Britain to defend her crown.
Last season connections mapped out a campaign for Asfoora which started, on these shores, in the Temple Stakes at Haydock Park in May.
Asfoora duly showed the benefit of that first run in Britain when keeping on well to win the King Charles III Stakes by a length from Regional at Royal Ascot.
She failed to get her head in front in two subsequent starts, narrowly failing to concede weight to Big Evs in the King George Stakes at Goodwood before a slightly disappointing fourth in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York where jockey Oisin Murphy felt the 6/4 favourite was unable to get traction on the used ground.
Dwyer is now eager to get his star mare back on the racetrack and worked her at Ballarat ahead of her intended comeback at Morphettville with representatives from Ascot, Goodwood and York all in attendance.
“I think I’m about as excited as she is to be back, she knows she’s back at the races – she hasn’t been to the races since York, no trials or trips away, so that was the purpose of today, not a solid gallop,” Dwyer told www.racing.com.
“We’ve done a bit of work with her but she’s had a couple of setbacks and here we are and it’s full steam ahead to Adelaide, hopefully.
“She’ll have a jump out next Tuesday and then go to the races in Adelaide off the back of that. It’s 11 days until the Irwin Stakes at Morphettville over 1100 metres, so it fits perfectly with two weeks until the Sangster – if we want to go there.
“It’s always been a challenge for her to get 1200 but I think with a bit of maturity now and the way she was racing, it’s a great time to test her and then we’ll pop on a plane and head overseas again.
“If they invite us, we’ll definitely go there (UK again). She had four runs over there last year, she’s a six-year-old mare, seven-year-old their time, so there’s not a lot next year and it’s all about this year.
“We’ll race her as long as she’s enjoying it and if she proves that in Adelaide and wants to hop on the plane, we’ll do that – and if not, she’s given us a good ride. If she does go, she’ll be running as much as we can.”
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