Asfoora’s group 1 victory in the King Charles III Stakes – her first in a promising but not yet elite career – has elevated her name to the greats of Australian racing. In the past 20 years she is now the eighth Australian-trained horse to win at this track.
Six Aussie sprinters have now won the race formerly the King’s Stand Stakes too, following Choisir (2003), Takeover Target (2006), Miss Andretti (2007), Scenic Blast (2009) and Nature Strip (2022) on the honour roll.
“We had the initial idea 14 or 16 months ago when she won a couple of 1000-metre races at Caulfield,” he said. “We just knew our options in Australia were limited because we have very few five- or five-and-a-half-furlong (1000-1200-metre) sprints.
“All our good sprints are six furlongs (1400 metres), and she just doesn’t get that. She is a dyed-in-the-wool five-furlong horse.”
Having won a couple of group 2 races and twice been placed at the top level, Dwyer conceded the mad-cap plan to take his horse to one of the world’s great horse-racing carnivals had its doubters.
Asfoora was passed in at the Magic Millions sale in Adelaide as a yearling. But Dwyer’s racing team spotted something special and struck a deal with Akram El-Fahkri, who bred the horse Asfoora at his Noor Elaine Farm, in Euroa in northern Victoria.
It led to a trusting combination that has now delivered on Dwyer’s self-described “audacious plan”.
A second-generation migrant, El-Fahkri’s traces the origins of his passion for four-legged creatures to the mule on his parents’ farm in Lebanon.
His flight to London to watch his horse was his first trip to Europe. He said after the race he owed his lot to his parents, who – like many from Europe or the Middle East – arrived in Australia in the 1950s seeking a new start.
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“And now I am winning at Royal Ascot,” he said after the race. “I’m not sure about the hat and the tails, but I will take the win.”
But he took no credit for the win. It was, he said, all Dwyer’s doing. And he admitted it irked him that some in the racing game had been unable to see her promise.
“Her runs in Australia were credit-worthy, and I couldn’t say no when he mentioned it. I felt strongly she was a winning chance, but it would be naive to think we can just turn up and win,” he said.
El-Fahkri, who owns a taxi business in Melbourne among other business interests, didn’t doubt Dwyer’s plan. He was generous enough to help with many of the costs.
More than 40 owners from Dwyer’s operation made the trip to Royal Ascot, along with El-Fahkri’s wife, sons, 93-year-old mother and nephew.
Jockey Oisin Murphy plants a kiss on the silverware after riding Asfoora to victory in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot.Credit: Getty Images
“It is one of the most satisfying things to win a race here,” he said. “It means everything.”
Jockey Oisin Murphy, an Irishman who refined his trade in Australia a decade ago under Melbourne Cup-winning trainer Danny O’Brien, rode just about the perfect race. She hit the front around 150 metres from home, cruising past $3.75 favourite Big Evs, and never looked beat.
“I’m thrilled for connections, it’s brave to come from Australia with all the travel,” Murphy said after the race. “How good was she? I’m over the moon.”
Asfoora has been based at Amy Murphy’s yard in Newmarket since the end of April. Footage of her befriending a goat named Gary in the paddock was shared widely on social media not long after her arrival.
Trainer Henry Dwyer (far left) with Asfoora’s connections and King Charles after the horse’s win at Royal Ascot.Credit: Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse
Her cobwebs were blown away with a fourth-place finish in the Temple Stakes at Haydock, near Liverpool in northwest England, last month, but she reached her peak when it mattered to conquer the fastest horses in Europe.
Dwyer, who operates on a modest scale from Ballarat, said if she’d stayed any longer in Australia, she would have started growing a winter coat. And the long lead-up time gave her a chance to season and settle in.
“It’s very hard to find these sorts of horses when you’ve only got 40 in work, and we don’t expect it,” he said. “It’s an absolute luxury to have a mare like this, and for Akram to entrust me to train her.”
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Expensive horses ultimately should go against Dwyer’s better judgement as an accountant, and he says he’d expected to be broke by the age of 30. He won a couple of group 1 winners a decade ago, notably a Queensland Derby winner, Sonntag, but conceded he’d had “bit of a dry spell since”.
“This mare deserved one. She has had so much go against her in the group 1s in Australia. To get a group 1 [win] at home is great, but to be at Royal Ascot and get a group 1 is just amazing,” Dwyer said.
Having now fully acclimatised to her new surroundings, Asfoora will remain in Newmarket. Two more big British races are on her agenda; the King George Stakes at Goodwood and the Nunthorpe at York.
Dwyer is not yet fully committed, acknowledging he’ll have a look at the race conditions, but he’d “love to showcase her a bit”. “But we’ll put the horse first,” he said.
But that’s a decision for tomorrow. For now, it’s time for reflection on a remarkable feat.
“I think there will be the mother of all parties tonight!” Dwyer said.
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