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'We ended up in Popworld at 3.30am!' - bullish Asfoora camp reflect on York glory as European adventure continues

By Lewis Porteous

'We ended up in Popworld at 3.30am!' - bullish Asfoora camp reflect on York glory as European adventure continues

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The last time Henry Dwyer spoke to The Front Runner he was running out of excuses for Asfoora, but ten days on from her crowning moment on the Knavesmire and the Australian trainer is understandably in far higher spirits.

Last year's King Charles III Stakes winner had been struggling to acclimatise on her return trip to Britain so far this season but Dwyer was growing in confidence that Asfoora was approaching her best prior to York's Ebor meeting and she proved too hot for her Nunthorpe rivals to handle in Yorkshire.

"Oisin Murphy gave her a great steer and she was able to show that turn of foot that she has," reflects Dwyer from his base in Ballarat in the heart of Victoria.

"The main thing was that she showed her desire to be there and she showed what she's capable of when she gets her ideal conditions."

Dwyer was in ebullient form as the ITV camera closed in on him at York, warning that he "wouldn't like to be a beer in York" following Asfoora's Nunthorpe success and it sounds like the evening and morning that followed lived up to expectations.

"The celebrations were good," he says with a lingering laugh. "We ended up at Popworld at 3.30am! I had a couple of runners in Sydney and Melbourne, so we watched them before we went to bed and we had a great old night."

He has always been the first to concede that Asfoora falls below the very best sprinters in Australia but having conquered twice at the highest level in Britain, she has started to gain the recognition she deserves closer to home.

"I'd say she's becoming a bit more appreciated," says her trainer. "Eveyone has rallied around her a bit because it's not the busiest time in racing in Australia and she's the only horse of ours competing overseas, so she's become a bit of a people's horse I suppose and everyone is getting involved."

Dwyer raised the possibility prior to York of the Nunthorpe being Asfoora's swansong on the racecourse but after proving her competitive spirit still burns bright, her European adventure is set to continue with Ireland and France on the agenda.

"She's come out of the race super," he says. "I left straight after York but I got a video from [her groom] Chenelle Ellis yesterday and she couldn't look any better.

"She's nice and sound so I think the Flying Five at the Curragh on Sunday week looks well within her grasp. It's another straight 1,000-metre track that seems to suit her and it will be a similar field. We don't want any rain but the forecast looks okay, so we'll be going there with optimism.

"Beyond that I'd love to go for the Prix de l'Abbaye at Longchamp. Everything is a bonus now she's won and, even if it was wet in Paris, I think we'd still chance our arm because there's not much else after that."

Dwyer, who was on the mark with French recruit Paradise Storm in Adelaide on Saturday, felt that shipping back to Australia last year before returning to Britain before Royal Ascot asked too much of Asfoora and she could well winter in Newmarket this time before coming back as an eight-year-old for another campaign in Europe.

"If she was to stay in training, we'd hopefully leave her in Britain," he says. "It knocked her about too much coming back to Australia and then trying to acclimatise straight away when she returned to Newmarket.

"I sat down with her owner Akram El-Fahkri yesterday and had a good chinwag about it and he's really enjoying racing her. He's been breeding horses for 25 years and has never had one as good as her. He knows the pitfalls of breeding and has a horse who is in form and winning Group 1 races, so he's keen to try and continue that if at all possible.

"Obviously she will tell us when she's had enough but off the back of the other day she clearly hasn't and, if she can keep going, he's keen to do that. We're very much enjoying it and long may it continue."

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The Front Runner is our unmissable email newsletter available exclusively to Racing Post+ subscribers. Chris Cook provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday. Not a Racing Post+ subscriber? Join today and also receive our Ultimate Daily emails plus our full range of fantastic website and newspaper content.

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