Henry Dwyer will return to Royal Ascot with fond memories, twelve months on from watching his beloved Asfoora claim the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes under Oisin Murphy.

Following a pleasing preparation in the Temple Stakes, Asfoora proved she was more than capable of mixing it with Europe's elite sprinters when getting the better of Regional by a length at the Royal meeting, creating a memorable day for her trainer Henry Dwyer, who admits that even a year on, victory still hasn't properly sunk in.

"As a horse trainer you don't really get chance to take it all in, watch replays and take stock you are normally just going day to day, grinding and get up, go to work and repeat and to be honest it probably still hasn't sunk in," said Dwyer.

"On the plane back on the Sunday after Ascot I had a chance to go through all the messages and reply to people but I might have watched the replay only three times since and it is still a pinch yourself moment."

Dwyer also revealed that Asfoora's Royal success has sparked an influx of European owners into the Ballarat-based yard.

He added: "I've met a lot of great people over here and I've got a number of owners from Europe now. I think people over here have seen me have one runner and one winner at Royal Ascot and have me down as a John Gosden but at home it's a one swallow doesn't make a summer scenario."

On his pre-race feelings last year, Dwyer recalled how nerves nearly got the better of him leading up to the race and pointed out the exact moment where he thought his filly had Royal Ascot glory in the bag.

"Before the race I was very nervous," explained the trainer. "It was the biggest day of my racing life. I train horses in Australia, I've got 40-odd horses and won a couple of Group 1s, but that whole thing about travelling a horse and the risk and reward factor brought a lot of pressure.

"A lot of people in Australia thought we were ill-found coming over here and it was more relief when she won. I didn't care if she won, lost or drew as long as she didn't embarrass herself and it was just important, she ran well.

"As they walked into the gates I was, for want of a better phrase, I was crapping myself. Thankfully she ran well and at the 200-metre mark when she ran past us in the grandstand she was clearly going to win and that's the last I saw of the race.

"I soon had 30 people jumping on top of me cheering and I didn't get chance to even see the last part of the race until half an hour after when I got chance to watch the replay and it was just an extraordinary moment."

Despite suffering from crippling nerves prior to watching his star filly take to the Royal Ascot turf, Dwyer was fortunate enough a conversation with His Majesty the King, an encounter that took the trainer by some surprise.

He recalled: "We had a chat before the race which was completely unscripted, and I had no etiquette lessons beforehand, so it was very unannounced, and I was very unaware.

"I would have loved an etiquette lesson, as I had no idea what to call him, but we had a good chat before the race and chatted about his time in Australia as a young fellow and went to school at Geelong.

"He asked me about the horse, and I said, 'It's an amazing experience meeting you Sir, but I would love to be speaking to you again after the race picking up the trophy'. He said, 'let's see if we can make that happen' and then afterwards he had a big smile as he said 'I told you I could make this happen' and it was terrific and an amazing life experience.

"Racing takes you all round the world and introduces you to so many new people and that's one of the amazing things about the sport and my job. It's not all about winning, it's about competing and meeting new people, and I guess the King is not someone I expected to meet, but there we are!"