Timeform's Kieran Clark reacts to Australian raider Asfoora flooring the locals in the feature Group 1 Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes at York on Friday.
“Move fast. Speed is one of your main advantages over large competitors," quoted AI pioneer Sam Altman, and a Chat GPT search of what would lead the Nunthorpe cavalry charge would have undoubtedly unearthed the rapid Night Raider.
That would turn out to bear true and it’s a shame there aren’t any four-furlong races as he would swoop the lot, but it was last year’s beaten Australian-trained favourite and Timeform top-rated Asfoora that was able to track him through on the bridle and quicken smartly to lead in the final final as the front-runner faded into fourth.
It had the feel of no more than an average running beforehand, Asfoora indeed the only previous Group 1 winner in the line-up and she only needed to reproduce her best form on these shores from last season to prevail despite looking rather dull in her coat and getting worked up beforehand, presumably fitter for her recent spins in the King Charles III and King George Qatar Stakes - which she had won and finished second in her previous campaign - the 100/1 outsider Ain’t Nobody chasing her home meaning that the form can’t be rated any higher.
Asfoora’s trainer Henry Dwyer reported in the aftermath that he would like her to be the first Australian runner in Ireland and the Flying Five would be very much on her agenda granted a sound surface.
It’s therefore worth comparing the Timeform standard times for five furlongs at the two tracks and, what might surprise a few people is that the Curragh standard is marginally quicker, Asfoora in complete control of this in the latter stages and surely the one to beat there next month, her form already good enough to win a standard running.
2-y-o clues aplenty
By far the richest maiden in the calendar, the Convivial, often throws up a few smart sorts, subsequent dual Group-1 winner Whirl only fifth last year and it was a few of the longer-term types that finished out of the frame who really caught my eye.
I’ll start with the debutant Inishberg, a strong, imposing type who’s a half-brother to the same connections now-smart Volterra, he was carrying plenty of condition and will come on a tonne for the run, well worth sticking in the tracker for a maiden, highly likely to head for the one that the yard frequently target at the Ayr Gold Cup meeting next month.
Sticking with another northern-trained one, Red Spells Danger continued his encouraging start and will thrive as a three-year-old possessing a tall, lengthy physique and once he fills out he will be up to winning plenty of races.
Don’t give up on Beny Nahar, either, he was well beaten over a speed-favouring seven furlongs but is out of a winner over a mile and a half and is another that will flourish at a later stage if looks are anything to go by.
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