Mum’s the word as Asfoora’s career draws to a close

As he prepares for Asfoora’s (Flying Artie) homecoming party next month, part-owner and breeder Akram El-Fahkri has reflected on his immense pride in the mare’s mighty achievements and also a sense of excitement for the future as the triple Group 1 winner gets set for the next phase of her career.

Following a flat performance over the weekend in the Coral Charge (Gr 3, 5f) at Sandown, Asfoora may have run her last race although there remains the small possibility that the rising eight-year-old will sign off one of the more remarkable racing careers of recent times with a swansong appearance at the end of the month in the King George Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) at Glorious Goodwood. 

The fact that she has been unplaced in her last four outings on British soil does not diminish her previous feats, but having earned very little in the way of prize-money to cover her travel expenses, El-Fahkri and his fellow family members have ruled out sending Asfoora to any of the northern hemisphere’s eye-wateringly expensive stallions.

She will therefore almost certainly board a flight back to Australia on July 31, and after recovering from her European exertions at her birthplace at Noor Elaine Farm, the process of selecting a sire for her first date will begin in earnest.           

El-Fahkri, who runs a Melbourne taxi firm among other business interests, is inclined to support Victoria’s burgeoning breeding industry by choosing one of his home state’s more prominent stallions; but he concedes that the consensus of the remainder of the ownership group may instead see Asfoora making the journey north to the Hunter Valley.

Regardless of her suitor, the intention is to put Asfoora’s future foals on the open market in the hope that her progeny can replicate her prodigious success on the racetrack. 

“If she’d managed to win another race over there this year, we may have considered sending her to a northern hemisphere stallion because the spend would have been justified,” El-Fahkri told ANZ News. 

“But it’s obviously been a very expensive exercise and we have received very little prize-money in return, so to spend even more on an expensive nomination fee probably wouldn’t make much financial sense. 

“My preference would be to send her to a Victorian stallion, but my brother [Daniel] and others in the ownership group have different views so I’m probably in the minority. If you send the best mare to the best stallion then you hope for the best, so I’m sure whichever direction we head in she’ll be given every opportunity to make it in the breeding barn, and the plan at this stage is to take her progeny to the sales.

“A nice colt normally sells himself, so we always put them on the market but we often retain the fillies because potentially they’re worth a lot more at the end of their careers than as yearlings. But given Asfoora’s performances, I don’t think the sex of the foal really matters. As long as it conforms well, I would expect there to be plenty of competition in the sales ring whether it’s a colt or a filly.”

In contrast, there was very little competition in the auditorium for Lot 487 at the 2020 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale, hence why El-Fahkri opted to take his homebred filly back to the family farm at Euroa when she fell some $6,000 short of her asking price.

Once Asfoora had burst onto the scene with six wins and a stakes placing from her first eight starts, any interested parties who had walked away from a deal that day would no doubt have felt repeated waves of regret.

The mare subsequently won three more black type contests in Australia, but it is her accomplishments on the other side of the world that have raised her profile and that of her conditioner Henry Dwyer, who has spent almost as much time rubbing shoulders with some of Britain’s leading trainers in recent months as he has in the trainers’ tower at Ballarat.

Asfoora’s pair of overseas triumphs at Group 1 level last season led her to becoming only the third Australian horse in history – after Starspangledbanner (Choisir) and Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) – to be crowned the European Champion Sprinter at the Cartier Racing Awards. 

But as proud as he is of receiving that coveted award, it is undoubtedly the memory of Asfoora’s breakthrough on British soil in 2024 that El-Fahkri cherishes the most. 

“Without grandstanding, no Australian horse has won the three races in Europe that she has and I doubt they ever will, so I may be the first and last person to hold those three trophies,” he told ANZ News. 

“Of those three, her first win at Ascot in the King Charles Stakes has to be the highlight, because it was just a magical occasion. But then to have shown it was no fluke by winning the other two Group 1 races was also an unbelievable experience for the family. 

“I was there for all three of her runs at Ascot, and it’s always such a special week. Although she only won the first time, her two other runs have both been full of merit. To have finished two lengths behind the winner in a 26-runner field this year was no mean feat, so we were very proud of her efforts. 

“It just reinforces how hard it is to travel a horse over to the other side of the world and win these big races. Both Australian runners at Ascot this year [Joliestar and Overpass] went over with bigger reputations than Asfoora, and although they ran very well neither of them was able to win. It’s a huge undertaking, financially and logistically, so we’re incredibly proud of what she’s been able to achieve.”

Asfoora’s reputation may have suffered something of a dent this year, with her valiant effort in the King Charles III Stakes (Gr 1, 5f) the highlight of an otherwise underwhelming campaign; but for El-Fahkri any lingering sense of disappointment is readily assuaged by the prospect of reuniting with his horse of a lifetime.    

“There’s no doubt her run at the weekend was a disappointing watch, she was never in contention,” he told ANZ News.  

“Leading up to the race, she had been full of beans so it was a bit of a head-scratcher. She pulled up perfectly well so there are no issues with her, but if she was back here in Australia she would have been retired by now. 

“If we were to run her in the King George Stakes at Goodwood and she could find her old form, then that opens the door to give her one more run in the Nunthorpe Stakes [at York]. But if she’s not 100 per cent, we won’t be running her in the King George and she’ll be boarding the plane to Australia on July 31st. 

“It will be a real boost for everyone on the farm to bring her home, I’m looking forward to seeing her again and I’m sure it would give all the staff an extra spring in their step to see her every morning.”