Asfoora (Aus)

Unable to take part in Sunday's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp Longines moments before the off due to a misplaced passport, Asfoora (Flying Artie) followed all that pre-race drama with a welcome straightforward display to make history. Overpowering the outsider Jawwal (Wooded) inside the final furlong, the 5-2 favourite asserted her superiority under Oisin Murphy to record a half-length success, the first of any kind for her nation in France. The Abbaye is also a "Win and You're In" for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint next month. "It's surreal--we...

The Curragh's Group 1 bonanza on day two of Irish Champions Weekend has attracted an aggregate 38 declarations after final fields for the track's four elite-level contests were confirmed Friday morning. Illinois (Galileo), with Christophe Soumillon booked to ride, is one of two Aidan O'Brien entries, the other being Queenstown (Galileo), and heads a field of nine in the G1 Comer Group International Irish St Leger. The undefeated G2 King Edward VII Stakes victor Amiloc (Postponed) is one of three overseas nominees. Ballydoyle has three of the six runners, headed...

It's been 13 years since Ortensia (Testa Rossa) claimed a first G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes for Australia and Henry Dwyer trainee Asfoora (Flying Artie) gained just reward for connections' long-held faith, doubling the antipodean tally, with a decisive victory in this year's renewal of the Knavesmire dash. "I'd love to see the replay because it looked like she won quite convincingly." said a jubilant Dwyer. "When you know they are going to win at the two-furlong marker you are sort of on pretty good terms with yourself. It...

Royal Ascot's Tuesday fields have been confirmed, with the key contest on the opening fixture being the 2,000 Guineas rematch between Godolphin's Ruling Court and Juddmonte's Field Of Gold in the seven-strong G1 St James's Palace Stakes. The sons of Justify and Kingman will be met by Wootton Bassett's G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains hero Henri Matisse from Ballydoyle, with the most notable withdrawal being Godolphin's dual Group 1 winner Shadow Of Light. In the opening G1 Queen Anne Stakes, the field of 11 features all the four main protagonists...

International stars Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) and Satono Reve (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) headline entries from six countries for the eight Group 1 races at Royal Ascot. Royal Ascot offers £10 million in prize-money in 2025, with all eight Group 1 prizes worth a minimum of £650,000 and no race run for less than £110,000. Asfoora continued the superb record of Australian-trained sprinters at Royal Ascot in 2024 as she stormed to victory in the G1 King Charles III Stakes, a race she is targeting again this year. Last...

With Europe's sprinting division positioned in a kind of limbo over the past year or so, the presence of Australian raider Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) has added some spice and it is with a tinge of sadness that Britain bids farewell to her after Friday's G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes at York. Her European tour has included success in the G1 King Charles III Stakes and a second in Goodwood's G2 King George Stakes, where she just failed to get to Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), and...

Friday's G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes has attracted a field of 14, with just one of the 15 overnight contenders, Vadream (GB) (Brazen Beau {Aus}), dropping out of York's third and final Group 1 contest of the week at Wednesday morning's declaration stage. The straight five-furlong dash will act as an unofficial championship decider between Australian raider Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) and Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}), who are one apiece in sprint showdowns this year, with the former annexing Royal Ascot's G1 King Charles III Stakes...

Crack sprinters Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) and Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) will square off for the third time in York's G1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes on Friday, Aug. 23. The duo feature among 15 confirmations for the sprint contest, with the race an ideal setting to determine who holds supremacy between the pair. The Henry Dwyer-trained filly rattled home fourth in the G2 Temple Stakes at Haydock in May, before taking the G1 King Charles III Stakes by a length at Royal Ascot in June over...

Taking his revenge on his Royal Ascot conqueror Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}), Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}--Hana Lina {GB}, by Oasis Dream {GB}) returned to winning ways in Friday's G2 King George Qatar Stakes on Goodwood's fast downhill five-furlong strip over which he had won the 2023 G3 Molecomb Stakes. Third to the Australian runner in last month's G1 King Charles III Stakes, last year's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint hero was sent off the 13-8 favourite and raced in second early under Tom Marquand with Ponntos...

Having extended the Australian legacy at Royal Ascot, Noor Elaine Farm's Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) heads to Goodwood on Friday to bid to add the G2 King George Qatar Stakes to last month's G1 King Charles III Stakes victory. Burdened with a five-pound penalty in this rapid affair, the Henry Dwyer-trained veteran who has continued to acclimatise in Newmarket was the subject of a positive bulletin from her handler this week. "I obviously hadn't seen her since the day she won at Ascot, but I couldn't be happier with...

The lack of top-class talent in this season's sprint division was laid bare by Timeform on Tuesday as the organisation revealed that the class of 2024 currently rank well below the 10 highest-rated sprinters to have raced in Europe since 2015. Australian-trained sprinter Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) achieved a rating of 122 when winning the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot, a figure that was matched this month by Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) when he gained his first Group 1 success in the July Cup at Newmarket,...

Providing that she maintains her form over the summer, G1 King Charles III Stakes victress Asfoora (Aus) (Flying Artie {Aus}) could take her globetrotting trip to the Breeders' Cup at Del Mar, trainer Henry Dwyer said in an interview with racenet.com.au. With that win at Royal Ascot, a race part of the 'Win and You're In' program, she secured a guaranteed fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Asfoora is the sixth Australian-trained sprinter to claim the race, formerly called the G1 King's Stand Stakes. "The Breeders Cup...