The third time was the charm for the Australian-trained sprinter Asfoora as Henry Dwyer\u2019s mare took the Group One Nunthorpe Stakes, the feature on day three of the Ebor Festival, after near-misses at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood. \u201cIt\u2019d be a bad night to be a beer in York, I\u2019d reckon,\u201d Dwyer told ITV Racing, before heading to the winner\u2019s enclosure to kick off the celebrations.<\/p>\n
Oisin Murphy enjoyed a perfect trip on the 11-1 shot, as he was able to slipstream Night Raider, the early pacesetter, through the first three-and-a-half furlongs and then quicken into a decisive lead when Danny Tudhope\u2019s mount drifted right a furlong out. But while it was very much Plan A from the rider\u2019s point of view, the dedication required to get Asfoora spot-on for this high-speed dash down the Knavesmire should not be underestimated.<\/p>\n
Her attempt to win the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot in June for the second year running had ended in valiant defeat, while Asfoora was still not quite at her peak for the King George Stakes at Goodwood in August. Yet Dwyer and Chenelle Ellis, Asfoora\u2019s groom, work rider and near-constant companion since their arrival in Britain in May, retained full faith in her ability.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year we had it easy in the sense that we had so much time over here before going to Ascot,\u201d Ellis said. \u201cThis year has been a little bit harder given that we were only here two weeks before Ascot. She\u2019s just taken a bit longer to come to hand, but I knew after Goodwood that she was going very well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been looking after her since she arrived, I\u2019m here until she goes home and I\u2019m just happy to be here. I said after galloping on Tuesday morning that I don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to beat her, and she deserves it more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asfoora could now extend her time in the northern hemisphere with a trip to Ireland for the Flying Five on Irish Champions Weekend next month, while Declan Carroll, who took the Gimcrack Stakes with Lifeplan, also has Group One ambitions for his winner on the Friday card. Carroll\u2019s 40-horse Yorkshire stable had the ante-post favourite for the Gimcrack back in 2017 in Santry, only to lose the promising colt in a gallops accident a few days before the race.<\/p>\n
Eight years on, Lifeplan gave the trainer a first-ever win at Group Two level, and the son of Kodi Bear is now around the 8-1 mark for the Group One Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket next month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was a stiff task after just winning a novice to come into a Group Two, but he\u2019s very streetwise,\u201d Carroll said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe could be a Guineas horse, I guess, he\u2019s in the Middle Park and that may be his next step, but I\u2019d want a bit of ease in the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quick GuideGreg Wood’s Saturday tipsShow<\/p>\n
Newmarket <\/b>1.25 Words Of Truth 2.00 Liv My Life 2.35 Harswell Ruby 3.10 Perfect Location 3.45 Arqoob 4.20 Hk Fourteen<\/p>\n
Goodwood<\/b> 1.30 Wetsand 2.05 Rhoscolyn 2.40 Crystal Flyer 3.15 Dreamasar 3.50 Pink Lily 4.25 Autumn\u2019s Breeze 5.00 Dream Composer<\/p>\n
York <\/b>1.50 Gladius 2.25 Tarriance 3.00 Never So Brave 3.35 Majestic Warrior (nap) 4.10 Pocklington (nb) 4.45 Revival Power 5.20 Marhaba Ghaiyyath<\/p>\n
Cartmel <\/b>2.10 Ambassador 2.45 Restandbethankful 3.20 Dusky Days 3.55 At Vimeiro 4.30 Lightening Company 5.05 Beny Nahar Road 5.35 La Quarite<\/p>\n
Windsor <\/b>5.15 Amazonian Dream 5.45 Division 6.15 Caviar Heights 6.45 Military Order 7.15 Mafnood 7.45 Clipsham Noble<\/p>\n
Redcar <\/b>5.30 Princess Niyla 6.00 Wonderful Friend 6.30 Eternal Force 7.00 Hale End 7.30 Dandy Dinmont 8.00 Golden Prosperity<\/p>\n
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Majestic Warrior primed for Ebor<\/strong><\/p>\n Willie Mullins, the champion trainer over jumps from his base in County Carlow, has become a major player too in the big staying handicaps on the Flat and holds a strong hand in Saturday\u2019s Ebor Handicap at York with the first two names in the betting.<\/p>\n Hipop De Loire, the 7-2 favourite, has unfinished business on the Knavesmire after getting no luck in running on the way to a fifth-place finish when fancied for this race last year.<\/p>\n He is 4lb higher in the weights this time around, however, after what was ultimately a four-and-a-half-length defeat, while Mullins\u2019s Ethical Diamond, the 6-1 second pick, landed a 12-furlong handicap at Royal Ascot last time out, but is up 8lb in the weights as a result.<\/p>\n Two lightly raced five-year-olds, Majestic Warrior and Shadow Dance, make more appeal, and at the likely prices, Majestic Warrior<\/strong> (3.35) could be a big each-way runner at around 16-1.<\/p>\n James Tate\u2019s runner has just four races in the book having missed last season, but he looked a long way ahead of his mark when successful on his only outing this term back in April. He is 9lb higher today on 98 but has the potential to be much better than that in time.<\/p>\n York 1.50<\/strong> This step up from handicaps to Group Three company will demand some additional improvement but Gladius <\/strong>has progressed by the race so far this season, and does not have much to find with the market leaders.<\/p>\n The progressive Gladius is fancied to take the step up to Group Three company in his stride. Photograph: Steven Cargill\/racingfotos.com\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Goodwood 2.05<\/strong> Two potential improvers, Mudbir and Back In Black, head the market but the former has the widest draw, while James Fanshawe\u2019s colt has done his winning on more conventional tracks. That leaves course-specialist Rhoscolyn, <\/strong>with a 40% strike rate here, as the value option at around 6-1.<\/p>\n York 2.25<\/strong> Tarriance <\/strong>was better than the bare result at Sandown last time, showing a good attitude to lead again close home after taking a bump, and can find the necessary improvement to win again off a 4lb higher mark.<\/p>\n Goodwood 2.40<\/strong> Three-year-old Prince Of The Seas is the blank canvas in the race and a sure-fire favourite, but the ratings suggest that odds-on quotes are too short, and course-and-distance winner Crystal Flyer, <\/strong>who is two-from-three here, makes more appeal at around 6-1.<\/p>\n York 3.00<\/strong> Classic-winning Rosallion is the class act but this drop back to seven furlongs is a concern and Never So Brave, <\/strong>who <\/strong>made a smooth transition from handicaps to Pattern races in the Summer Mile here last month, has less to find than odds of around 11-4 would suggest.<\/p>\n York 4.10<\/strong> Pocklington <\/strong>was a big eye-catcher in a competitive handicap over track-and-trip last month, running on to finish three-quarters of a length behind the winner after struggling for room. He is still low-mileage after seven starts and off the same mark here.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The third time was the charm for the Australian-trained sprinter Asfoora as Henry Dwyer\u2019s mare took the Group…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4107],"tags":[1071,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-366129","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-racing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115075633971455595","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=366129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}