Henry Dwyer’s Asfoora got her second British voyage off the mark when running out a commanding winner of the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes at York.
Last year's King Charles III Stakes heroine failed to replicate her Royal Ascot success when returned to the Berkshire venue in June and arrived for a second crack at the Nunthorpe on the back of sub-par seventh-place finish behind the re-opposing Jm Jungle in the King George Qatar Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.
However, she quickly vindicated her connections' decision to return to Britain for the second season running with a dominant display on the Knavesmire.
Always towards the fore under Oisin Murphy, Asfoora travelled powerfully into contention before showing a striking burst of speed to strike the front inside the final furlong. Frost At Dawn and Ain't Nobody set off in hot pursuit late on, but they never looked like pegging back the Australian speedster, who kept up the gallop to win by an eased down length at odds of 11/1. The Kevin Ryan-trained Ain't Nobody defied odds of 100/1 to finish a gallant runner-up, with William Knight's Frost At Dawn finishing back in third.
"I didn't see the last 200 metres because I was under a scrum," said Dwyer as he watched his star mare return to the winners' circle with 'Men At Work – Down Under' playing over the speakers.
"It's always hard to keep faith when they aren't winning, but we knew there were no excuses coming into today – it was win or be retired basically, and she's done the job
"We thought she was going well, and it was great for her to go and show it. It was all getting a bit hard prior to Ascot, we didn't have the transport and being 100% honest, if I owned the horse, I wouldn't have come back.
"Akram (owner) was very insistent that we came back because he enjoyed the hospitality so much last year and thought she deserved another chance.
"I was happy to go with the plan obviously. He's a sportsman and is happy to keep her racing as long as she's well.
"If we can get to Ireland, France or America that would be great. She owes us nothing obviously.
"Everyone poo poos the prize money but that's worth a lot of money that race today. It's more than she would have won in a race in Australia and there's just nothing for her there. The horse is a specialist 1000m horse and there are no options for her, so we came here.
"Money is one thing, but the owner isn't in it for the money, he's in it for the excitement. He bred her, owns the mare, has the full sister and has the full family. For him it's special, for me it's special and for my whole family it's special."
Asfoora was returning to Britain for a second season and although no concrete plans have been made as of yet, Dwyer was by no means ruling out a third successive trip to Europe for the hardy seven-year-old, who became just the second Australian-trained winner of the Nunthorpe after Ortensia's victory in 2012.
"It's been a once in a lifetime opportunity. Well two years in a row and who knows, maybe three," said Dwyer.
"She's been pretty patiently and lightly raced to date. It will depend on how she pulls up coming out of this. If we get to France we get to France, she owes us nothing.
"The Flying Five yes, but if it was a heavy track in France, we may not go there but we'll see what happens."
Whether it's traveling in a fried-out Kombi or travelling to France, Ireland or America for her next assignment, one thing is for sure, Asfoora's European venture has been nothing short of a success.
