Asfoora’s Breeders’ Cup ambitions have been put on hold following her fourth-place finish in the G1 Nunthorpe Stakes 5f at York on Saturday morning.

Sent off as the 15/10 favorite, Henry Dwyer’s star mare settled in midfield on the near side. Despite jockey Oisin Murphy’s efforts to push her forward up the center of the track, Asfoora was unable to close the gap on the eventual winner, Bradsell.

Asfoora finished 1.4 lengths behind the winner, just missing a spot in the top three. Dwyer noted that she might have been disadvantaged by racing on what was considered the slower side of the course.

"I thought her last 50 meters was fairly lackluster," Dwyer conceded. "She hasn’t progressed from her last run, which makes it difficult to move forward unless we find a clear reason, which we’ll know in a few days."

Dwyer continued, "She was in a position to finish second or at least third. It’s hard to tell if she’s peaked, if she didn’t take to the track, or if something else was at play. The firmness of the track was fine, but after three days of racing, it might have been too worn down for her to get proper traction."

"I wouldn’t be thinking we would be going to the Breeders' Cup,” he said.