Henry Dwyer’s star sprinter, Asfoora, spanked a benchmark-78 field at Sandown today and in doing so, fired an early warning shot to her upcoming spring rivals. The daughter of Flying Artie had an exceptional three-year-old campaign, notching three wins from four starts before heading to the paddock a stakes-placed filly at Caulfield in February. Returning a four-year-old mare, the Dwyer runner has lost none of her zip, treating today’s midweek company with disdain on her way to an effortless three-and-three-quarter length win. Undoubtedly the most impressive aspect of today’s performance was when she stopped the clock, smashing the class record at 1000-metres by over half a second – on a soft track no less – as jockey Mitch Aitken eased down in the last fifty-metres. Trainer Dwyer was delighted with the result. “That was a very impressive performance”, he said. “As always with this mare, the best part of her performance has been the time on the clock.
“You can win races and do it impressively, but time is a key metric – it doesn’t lie”.
Dwyer was especially pleased with his runner’s attitude since returning from her three-year-old campaign. “She was terrifically well-behaved, a different horse to what she was last prep.”
Jockey Mitch Aitken – who rode the near-perfect race – was typically understated in his assessment of the run. “She did everything quite easily”, the talented hoop said. “She put ’em away nicely”.
Dwyer has a clear path mapped for his talented mare, staying at 1000-metres second-up in the Group-2 Caulfield Sprint before heading to Flemington on Derby Day for the Begonia Belle at Group-3 level. The longer term goal remains the Oakleigh Plate in February, to be run at today’s venue rather than it’s traditional home at Caulfield owed to the precinct’s renovations.