Henry Dwyer-trained Asfoora a hot favourite to win Rubiton Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday
A fully-developed Asfoora will take her first step towards an England trip in Saturday’s Group 2 Rubiton Stakes at Caulfield.
Horse Racing
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This year is the year for Asfoora to reach the Group 1 summit.
Asfoora has won eight of 15 starts and banked more than $1.2m in prizemoney but is yet to post a Group 1 triumph from four attempts at the highest level.
The mare ran third in last year’s Oakleigh Plate, fourth in the Galaxy and second to star Kiwi Imperatriz in the Moir Stakes, showing she has the talent to mix it with Group 1 sprinters.
But Ballarat trainer Henry Dwyer said the dual Group 2 winner has finally reached peak maturity.
“She’s always been quite immature and that’s why she didn’t race until the middle of her three-year-old season and she’s only been relatively lightly-raced for a five-year-old,” Dwyer said.
“She’s fully physically matured now and her soundness is as it’s always been, pretty good, and she’s a lot more mentally sound in that she’s a lot more trainable.”
Simply breathtaking performance by @TeAkauRacing’s I Am Invincible mare Imperatriz as she breaks her own @TheValley 1000m track record to win the Gr1 Moir Stakes with @opie_bosson in the saddle. pic.twitter.com/Dn1qD3oHZk
— Black Type Racing (@BreedingRacing) September 29, 2023
A second shot at the Oakleigh Plate will be Asfoora’s next Group 1 assignment.
Saturday’s Group 2 Rubiton Stakes will be Asfoora’s first step on a journey that is likely to take her to England for the King’s Stand Stakes during the Royal Ascot carnival in June.
Therefore the tests will get tougher for Asfoora after the Rubiton Stakes for which TAB installed the daughter of Flying Artie as a $2 favourite.
Dwyer said the favourable set weights and penalties conditions of the $300,000 Rubiton Stakes emphasised the importance of winning at Caulfield on Saturday.
“You’d think if she’s going to win an Oakleigh Plate, where she’d be one of the favourites, she’d need to be winning on Saturday,” Dwyer said.
“She should be carrying eight or nine kilos more than most of them but she’s at level weights with them.
“I think it’s all relative and a pretty good weight for her.
“In the Oakleigh Plate, she’s going to be carrying 6kg more than most of them.”
Drawing barrier six is another factor in favour of Asfoora while two jumpouts showed Dwyer the speedster was in perfect shape for the Rubiton Stakes.
“She’s as good as she’s ever been,” Dwyer said.
In a big 24 hours for Asfoora’s connections, Dwyer will debut the classy mare’s younger half-brother Moaksun in Friday night’s Dynamic Print Group Plate (1000m) at The Valley.
Dwyer said Moaksun showed a few similarities to his older sister.
“He’s not dissimilar to her in that he’s a 1000 or 1100m horse, I’d say,” Dwyer said.
“He’s a bigger, stronger version of her but he’s also had similar issues early doors with immaturity.
“He’s not an Asfoora but he’s a nice enough level of horse.”
Jockey Mitch Aitken will ride both Moaksun and Asfoora in their respective events.
Originally published as Henry Dwyer-trained Asfoora a hot favourite to win Rubiton Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday
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