A change of name but a familiar scene as Asfoora became the sixth Australian-trained sprinter to take out the feature sprint on the opening day of Royal Ascot. Formerly run as the King’s Stand Stakes, the newly named Group 1 King Charles III Stakes held no fears for Ballarat-based Henry Dwyer who set the five-year-old mare the task of following the likes Choisir , Takover Target and Nature Strip among the five to have already claimed the race for Australia.
” Asfoora had won twice at group two level in Melbourne while also placed in Group 1 Oakleigh Plate behind Uncommon James, and ran second in the Group 1 Moir Stakes behind Imperatriz last September. “We got a bit of stick from home for bringing her over because she wasn’t seen as one of our better sprinters, but we were just so confident that she was really textbook wheelhouse five furlongs and she’s proven that today,” he added.