The Times
23 August 2025
We hope it won’t apply to our cricketers this winter but when it comes to sprinting horses the Aussies are better than ours. The 7 year old mare Asfoora, whose 9 victories Down Under don’t include any at Group One level followed up last Ascot’s King Charles III Stakes at that level with smooth success in the Nunthorpe at the infuriatingly (for those of us who failed to back her) lengthy price of 11-1.
It all looks so obvious afterwards. There were plenty of admirable performers amongst Asfoora’s 15 rivals but nothing that had won at the top level and anyway Asfoora’s two runs on this trip had been anything but disastrous. She was beaten just two lengths when 5th in this year’s attempt at Royal Ascot and two and a quarter when 7th at Goodwood.
Ascot came after a 43 hour journey from her training quarters in Ballarat, Victoria and Goodwood’s King George Stakes was run on ground much softer than she is used to. Before yesterday’s race her trainer Henry Dwyer had been very open with his opinion that last year she had arrived in better shape than he expected and has trained off a little when just 4th in the Nunthorpe whilst this time it was turning out the other way round.
“We had to keep the faith,” he said amidst happy scenes in the winners’ enclosure. “Things didn’t go to plan for the first couple of runs and there were a few doubters. You even doubt yourself and worry about things, but we were confident we’d see her back there even if there was the niggling doubt.
“Chenelle [Ellis, groom] jumped off her on Tuesday and said she just wins. She’s called it and she’s done an amazing job.”
International raiders had already added much to this meeting when the presence of the unbeaten French horse Daryz and the Japanese Derby winner caused a real buzz about the preliminaries only to end with the pair occupying the last two places. Yesterday a long journey proved more than worthwhile and as so often the winning connections had some neat Aussie words to celebrate. “I’m delighted” said Henry Dwyer afterwards. “It would be a bad night to be a beer in York, I’d reckon.”
Oisin Murphy has been in the saddle for all Asfoora’s British runs and he was at his classy best yesterday tracking rocket starter Night Raider before taking over a furlong out and keeping on too strongly for the late finishing Ain’t Nobody and the grey filly Frost At Dawn. Ain’t Nobody had been disappointing this season but he too had won at Royal Ascot last year. If you had backed him and Asfoora in a forecast you could treat yourself to a First Class flight to the Antipodes. Ain’t Nobody started at 100-1.
But that’s for nothing compared to the uniqueness of the jockeys involved in the finish of the first. 100 yards out 26 year old David Egan hit the front only to wilt as his 57 year old father John came past on the winner. What odds would you give for that?