Australian sprinter Asfoora headlines a truly international cast for the eight Group 1 races at the 2025 Royal Ascot meeting, which will offer £10 million in total prizemoney and attract runners from six different countries.
“Asfoora is pointing towards Royal Ascot again,” said trainer Henry Dwyer. “Last year, we had her over there by early May, but this time she’ll travel a bit later.”
“She won first-up at Morphettville and although we didn’t do much with her beforehand and she was a touch underdone, I think that told 14 days later in the Robert Sangster Stakes.”
“She still ran well and was beaten less than three lengths, but I was a little disappointed we didn’t finish closer. She’s pulled up great though, and we’re happy to roll the dice in Europe again.”
“Winning at Royal Ascot was surreal — it felt like a blur. It took a while to sink in, if it ever really did. It was a fairytale and although the novelty may not be the same this year, we’re still excited to go back.”
“She could become the first horse from outside Europe to win the same race twice at Royal Ascot, which is a huge incentive.”
Asfoora extended Australia’s outstanding sprinting legacy at Royal Ascot last year with victory in the King Charles III Stakes, a race she’ll again target in 2025.
The six-year-old has had two recent runs at Morphettville, claiming the R N Irwin Stakes before a seventh-place finish in the Robert Sangster Stakes last weekend.
Japan is strongly represented this year, with six entries looking to claim a breakthrough win at Royal Ascot. Star sprinter Satono Reve, trained by Noriyuki Hori, is being set for the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes.
Satono Reve, who won the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in March, followed that with a second-place finish behind Hong Kong’s Ka Ying Rising in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin last weekend.
Fellow Japanese trainer Hideyuki Mori has entered Shin Forever — runner-up in the Saudi Derby — for the St James’s Palace Stakes, and Daishin Pisces for the Gold Cup.
The USA will be represented by unbeaten turf filly Laurelin in the Coronation Stakes. Trainer Graham Motion previously went close in the same race with Sharing in 2020 and Spendarella in 2022.
Laurelin, who had two wins at Aqueduct last year, began her 2025 campaign with a Listed victory at the same New York venue last weekend. “That was very cool,” said Motion. “She’s just a stone-cold runner, and I wasn’t sure if she was fit enough, but she does so well at Aqueduct.”
“Everything is on the table at this stage. I’ll nominate her for the Coronation at Ascot in June, though there are plenty of good three-year-old filly races to consider.”
Florida-based trainer Victor Barboza Jr will saddle his first Royal Ascot runner with Grand Mo in the Queen Anne Stakes, while France has multiple chances in the Coronation Stakes with Zarigana and Vertical Blue.
Facteur Cheval and Map Of Stars, trained by Jérôme Reynier and prepared for globetrotting assignments, could both line up in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.
All eight Group 1 events will carry a minimum purse of £650,000, with no race on the card worth less than £110,000. As part of changes to the race program, several Group 2 contests including the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes, Ribblesdale Stakes, King Edward VII Stakes and Hardwicke Stakes will now close at the five-day declaration stage.
