They say the greatest rewards come at the end of the longest journeys and Henry Dwyer would certainly agree with that sentiment.
Dwyer trains his horses in Miner’s Rest, a suburb some 90 minutes outside Melbourne. It was a big decision to send his star mare, Asfoora, to Britain this year; it took 13,359 miles to get her to a temporary base in Newmarket and 43hr 47minutes in the air and on the road at cost of £120,000.
The wisdom of the trip could have been questioned after she had run below expectations at Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood but, at the third major Festival of the summer, Asfoora, came bounding up York’s straight like a bullet out of a gun to win the Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes.
This journey was a stark difference, as it took just 57.60 seconds to cover one kilometre but how exhilarating it was to see.
Dwyer has been back and forth to Australia all summer, amassing 100,000 air miles, but the joy on his face had clearly made it all worth it. So did a first prize of £395,552.
Asfoora, who had won at Royal Ascot last summer, was allowed to go off at 11/1 but she travelled with power and there was never a stage where she did not look like winning for jockey Oisin Murphy, thrashing 100/1 outside Ain’t Nobody by a length-and-a-quarter.
Oisin Murphy rode Asfoora to victory in Friday’s Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes
Australian Asfoora’s impressive victory at York Racecourse was worth a whopping £395,552
‘That was perfect but I didn’t see much of it as for the last 200 metres, I was under a scrum of celebrations!’ said a breathless Dwyer.
‘Her owner, Akram El-Fakhri, is a sportsman. He isn’t in this for money. What is happening now is a once in a lifetime opportunity.’
This, as always, has been a magnificent week of racing and another old favourite, Trawlerman, made his first appearance since winning the Ascot Gold Cup in June a winning one, to the delight of a bumper crowd, in the Lonsdale Stakes.
Now everything reaches a crescendo with the SkyBet Ebor Handicap on Saturday and Willie Mullins saddles the likely favourite Hipop De Loire, as well as Ethical Diamond.
He said: ‘Sometimes it’s a bit like the Grand National, even though there are no fences. Things have to go right for you from the stalls.’
