Henry Dwyer to have three-strong operation based in Newmarket
Intrepid Australian trainer Henry Dwyer is planning to increase his presence in British racing, with returning champion sprinter Asfoora (Flying Artie) set to be campaigned out of Newmarket alongside two new recruits.
The Group 1-winning handler saddled Asfoora to land the King Charles III Stakes (Gr 1, 5f) at Royal Ascot in 2024, and the El-Fahkri family’s homebred duly returned to the northern hemisphere to annex last year’s Nunthorpe Stakes (Gr 1, 5f) and Prix de l’Abbaye (Gr 1, 1000m).
Dwyer was active at the latest renewal of the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sale, with Synners Kid (Ten Sovereigns), a two-time winner for Joseph O’Brien, picked up through Sam Haggas’s Hurworth Bloodstock at 110,000gns, while Skiathos (Wootton Bassett), a Redcar novice scorer for Karl Burke, was knocked down to Jamie Piggott and Harvey Williams at 150,000gns.
However, before the three-year-olds make their way down under, Dwyer is hoping races like the Britannia Stakes (1m) or the Golden Gates Stakes (1m 2f) at Royal Ascot will figure in their respective programmes.
“Asfoora will likely be running at most of the major festivals, as per last year, so we’ll try and find some three-year-old handicaps for these horses,” he said.
“They both come back into work this week with Asfoora, so they’ll be up and going by the time we get back over there. It’ll be nice to think we could have three runners at Royal Ascot.”
Dwyer reported that both Skiathos and Synners Kid had already been syndicated among a global ownership base. Skiathos is set to run in the silks of Australian Tim Porter, whose past runners include notable talents Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai) and Honey Girl (Mayson), while Synners Kid will sport the colours of Lady Bowthorpe’s (Nathaniel) owner Emma Banks.
While European horses are routinely purchased with a view to targeting lucrative prizes in Australia, Dwyer said this project was about the sort of experiences “money can’t buy.”
“It’s not all about prize-money, I’m certainly of that opinion and so are the owners,” he said. “The dyed in the wool racing fan would pay any amount to have a winner at Royal Ascot. It’s an experience money can’t buy.
“I’ve got some good friends that I’ve met along the way over there in Europe involved, and some great friends and clients from Australia who’d saw their right arm off to have a horse running at Royal Ascot. This gives them a chance to do that. Who knows, it might become a regular thing.”
The two new recruits will be trained out of Lemos de Souza’s Newmarket base alongside Asfoora. While Dwyer will send staff member Chenelle Ellis to oversee the string, Skiathos and Synners Kid are set to reappear for De Souza, for whom they would need to reach a rating of 90, before transferring to Dwyer’s care.
He stressed that Royal Ascot was far from the be all and end all, with his experiences at other British tracks proving equally memorable.
“A lot of the owners are people I’ve just met along the journey with Asfoora, shared a beer with at the bar and we’ve become friends,” he continued. “It’s not just winning races in Europe, it’s been the whole journey of the people we’ve met, the places we’ve seen and the doors that’ve opened up.
“We won at Royal Ascot with her but we’ve had just as good a time at the other festivals like Goodwood and the Ebor at York. It’d be nice to try and share that with as many people as possible.”
Asfoora has run in the last two renewals of the King Charles III Stakes and will bid to reclaim her Royal Ascot crown after finishing fifth behind American Affair (Washington DC) last year.
Dwyer explained he had taken a different approach to her preparation, with the three-time Group 1 winner remaining in Newmarket following her Longchamp triumph last October.
“Coming back and re-acclimatising in Australia took a lot out of her last time,” the trainer said. “We thought if we were to race her again this year, which was a 50-50 call, we wouldn’t be able to go home and come back.
“It can really knock the mares about in particular and last time she came out of winter in England she got back to 40 degree conditions in Australia. By the same token, when she left three and a half weeks before Royal Ascot, she had a winter coat on her an inch long then arrived into 32 degree heat.
“We didn’t have her right for Royal Ascot last year because of that, so we thought if we’re going to have a stab at it we’d leave her over there.”
Dwyer said the different preparation was also likely to result in a different programme of races, with success at her adopted home of Newmarket pinpointed as a particular ambition.
“I’d love to run her in Newmarket because being based there has been such a big part of it,” he said. “If we could win a race in Newmarket I’d be thrilled. Races like the Palace House appeal early. Five furlongs up the Rowley Mile is probably stiff enough for her but she’s got to kick off somewhere. Then maybe it’ll be the Temple Stakes again, which she ran in the first year she was there in the lead up to Ascot.
“Then she’s into the King Charles at Ascot. I think she’d have one more run after that and probably go to stud. Obviously we’d have her served southern hemisphere time, which is August 1. You could maybe go to Goodwood again, but my feeling would maybe to do something different and try to stretch her out to six furlongs in the July Cup.”
Dwyer added: “I’m pretty lucky, I reckon. I started training about ten years ago with three horses and won a Group 1 Queensland Derby [with Sonntag] four months into my training career, which was unheard of with a second-hand horse.
“Then on my first trip overseas we had a Group 1 winner at Royal Ascot. I’ve only got 45 horses in work so it’s not like we’re talking about having teams of horses going to America and Hong Kong, I’ve only got one good enough to travel. It’s a case of making hay while the sun shines.”