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John and Thady Gosden look to have yet another high-class filly on their hands following Al Asifah's breath-taking performance in the Listed Keyser Fillies' Stakes at Goodwood this afternoon.
The Shadwell-owned filly created a favourable impression when winning by three-and-three-quarter lengths on debut at Haydock late in May and remained unbeaten with a scintillating display at Goodwood.
The field was taken along by Sumo Sam for much of the contest, but Paul and Oli Cole's filly soon came under pressure with more than four furlongs to run. The eye was always drawn to Jim Crowley and Al Asifah however as the pair sauntered into contention at the three-furlong marker having been held up in midfield for the majority of the race. Jim Crowley looked to be oozing confidence entering the final few furlongs and the daughter of Frankel soon quickened up in breath-taking fashion for a facile six-and-a-half-length success.
The David Simock-trained Empress Wu (9/1) finished back in second with the front-runner Sumo Sam (7/1) a further two-and-three-quarter lengths behind in third.
Trainer Thady Gosden said: "She has always looked a classy filly.
"Obviously she didn't run last year but won in good style on her first start and she showed her class again today. Hopefully she can continue on her upward trajectory."
Shadwell's racing manager Angus Gold added:
"It was nice. It was fabulous. We haven't had time to discuss it yet, and we will talk to Sheikha Hissa (Shadwell owner), but a very obvious thing, if we want to be bold, we could talk about supplementing her for the Irish Oaks.
"Timing-wise, it was just a pity she had immaturity issues, her muscle enzymes were a bit high for a while, so they have just gone steady with her and typically taken their time.
"Everything about her, to me, she looks a mile-and-a-half filly from her action.
"Jim very much got that feeling today and the very encouraging thing was he was able to go past them so quickly off a relatively slow pace.
"She is a big, tall filly. She's (from the family of) Unfuwain. You can argue she's more a mile-and-a-quarter pedigree, but for me, I'm pretty certain she'll stay a mile and a half.
"That was only her second win. The important thing is to make her a stakes winner. How we do it, obviously all the options are open. We could easily stay at a mile and a quarter next time, but that's putting off the inevitable, I think.
"In Jim's words, she could be even better over a mile and a half. If we had 10 more days, obviously we could consider Royal Ascot.
"She could be very good. If we were able to keep her in training next year and keep her in good form, she could be a filly for all the top mile-and-a-half races next year, so we won't want to rush her straight back in.
"So, let's see when the dust settles what everybody feels. If the family are happy to supplement and if John Gosden thinks she is in good form, having made rapid strides in a short space of time, she could go (to the Curragh)."
Peripatetic powers to Tapster Stakes success
Elsewhere on the card Roger Varian enjoyed Listed success in the William Hill Tapster Stakes as his filly, Peripatetic (10/3), powered to victory under a fine front-running ride from David Egan.
It paid to be prominent at the Sussex venue this afternoon and jockey David Egan made his intentions clear from the outset by sending Peripatetic straight to the front. The daughter of Ulysses travelled kindly on the front end and soon had her rivals in trouble with William Buick becoming increasingly animated in the saddle on board his mount, First Ruler, some way from home. There were no such issues for the Cheveley Park-owned filly though who stretched clear in taking fashion to score by a comfortable one-and-a-half length victory. Although off the bridle for much of the home straight, the Charlie Appleby-trained First Ruler did run on strongly to grab second with market leader Candleford (6/4 F) only managing to finish third.