Australian Mare Asfoora Draws Favorable Barrier for King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot
Australian mare Asfoora has been handed a prime opportunity to claim a maiden Group 1 victory at the prestigious Royal Ascot meet, drawing barrier 17 for the upcoming King Charles III Stakes.
Trainer Henry Dwyer is pleased with the outside draw, believing it will allow the five-year-old daughter of Flying Artie to employ her natural racing style and get the best possible run in the straight-course sprint.
“The horse to beat is clearly Big Evs, it’s drawn closer to the rail side, and people keep telling me when it’s firm at Royal Ascot you want to be more the stand side, which we are, which is good,” Dwyer said.
Asfoora will be ridden by top jockey Oisin Murphy and is currently a $6.50 chance with betting apps, sitting behind second-favorite Regional ($5.50) and likely favorite Big Evs ($4.60).
While Dwyer acknowledges Asfoora may not be in the same league as previous Australian stars to win the King Charles III Stakes, such as Choisir, Takeover Target, Miss Andretti, Scenic Blast, and Nature Strip, he believes the mare can still be competitive.
“Everyone keeps telling me Asfoora’s not good enough, but they’re not comparing her to the opposition, they’re comparing her to other (Australian) horses that have gone over,” Dwyer said. “We only can beat what’s put in front of us and everyone keeps telling me that the European five-furlong horses this year lack depth and that’s probably proven by the fact there’s been four lead-up races and they’ve all been bunched finishes and they’ve all been won by an outsider.”
The King Charles III Stakes is scheduled as the third race on the opening day of Royal Ascot, set to run at 12:45am AEST on Wednesday morning.
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