Royal Ascot-bound sprinter debuting at Haydock ‘not here for a haircut’

The latest Aussie challenger for Royal Ascot honours is set to make her debut in front of the ITV cameras at Haydock on Saturday.

Asfoora, who has won eight times up to Group 2 level in her home country, is an 8-1 chance for the King Charles III Stakes at next month’s royal meeting.

Sprinters from Australia have won the King Charles, formerly the King’s Stand Stakes, five times this century and Asfoora will be the country’s only representative this year.

Her regular jockey Mitch Aitken has flown over to partner her in the Temple Stakes at the weekend but Oisin Murphy is set to take over at Ascot.

Trainer Henry Dwyer said the five-year-old is set to be in Britain for the whole summer for a European campaign and hopes she will be a major challenger in the year’s top sprints.

He said: “We have twice run second to Imperatriz who is the best sprinter in Australia so we were partly coming over to get away from her but lo and behold she has been retired! We might have pulled the wrong rein there but we are more than happy to be here.

“We are not here for a haircut but hopefully she can kick off at Haydock, go to Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood, York and then maybe France or Ireland.

“She has only had 18 starts and wasn’t over-taxed early. Her owner Mr El-Fahkri is a racing man and breeder but has no ambitions to retire her so we have an ambitious summer plan for her.

“I wouldn’t have come here if I thought she didn’t measure up. It’s a trip, not a holiday. It would mean a hell of a lot to win on Saturday – it has been a stressful few weeks, and it is a leap of faith to come over and test my ability to travel a horse.”

Asfoora: the Aussie sprinter starts her European campaign at Haydock

He added: There was some surprise in Australia about us coming over, as we are probably the eighth, ninth or tenth best sprinter in the country.

“In all reality, I think she is in the top three five-furlong horses in Australia and all our best sprint races are over six furlongs, so the calendar at home didn’t suit us. In what seems a very even year over here, I think she can more than measure up.

“She is gutsy and very consistent. Her only poor run came when we gave her a silly task and she has been unlucky a couple of times. We won’t run over six furlongs again so that is why we travelled her so we can keep her at five and five and a half furlongs.

“To state the obvious, Asfoora’s best asset is that she is a fast horse. She is not a hard-going sprinter, the ones that go as hard as they can for as long as they can before getting tired late. She is a sprinter that can sit on a really high cruising speed and can find a length or two at the end of a five-furlong race.”