A year after flying home for second behind Pride Of Jenni in the Gr.1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m), Go Racing’s pin-up girl Atishu(NZ) (Savabeel) returned to Flemington on Saturday and went one better for the Kiwi syndicators.
Last year's edition of the A$1 million fillies and mares' feature was a difficult one to watch for Atishu's connections. The Savabeel mare found herself near the tail of a strung-out field and rounded the home turn in a near-hopeless position more than a dozen lengths from the leader. Atishu ran the fastest last 800m, 600m, 400m and 200m of the race and got within a length of Pride Of Jenni, who went on to win another two Group One races in that same tearaway style and was named Australia's Horse of the Year.
Saturday brought sweet redemption. This time Atishu and jockey James McDonald took up a closer position in ninth as the field kept front-runner Grinzinger Belle firmly in their sights.
McDonald brought Atishu out to the centre of the track at the top of the straight and began to move her through her gears. Amelia's Jewel swept to the lead with 200m remaining in what looked like a winning move, but then Atishu went into full flight and drew up alongside her.
Despite a determined fightback from a brave Amelia's Jewel, Atishu slowly but surely got the upper hand and snatched victory by a head.
Atishu's Empire Rose triumph capped a special day for the expat New Zealand combination of trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald, who also combined to win the Gr.1 Coolmore Stud Stakes with Switzerland and the Gr.3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) with the Kiwi-bred Aeliana.
"What a mare she (Atishu) is," McDonald said. "She just turns up and performs. I'm incredibly proud of her. The team have presented her in immaculate order and she's done the job.
"Her performance in this race last year – I couldn't believe that she got beaten. But then, as it's turned out, Pride Of Jenni became an absolute star.
"She's just a quality mare. I'm really proud of her."
Atishu has now had 46 starts for 11 wins, 15 placings and A$5,094,620 in stakes. This was the third Group One victory for the seven-year-old, who had previously captured the Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) as well as the Champions Stakes (2000m) on the final day of last year's Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Flemington has been a particularly happy hunting ground for Atishu, with nine starts at the famous Melbourne track for victories in the Empire Rose, the Champions Stakes, the Gr.2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) and the Gr.2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m).
Atishu has become a mainstay of Waller's stable in the three years since Go Racing transferred her across the Tasman. She had previously recorded multiple stakes wins in New Zealand as a three-year-old for Cambridge trainer Stephen Marsh.
"She's a beautiful mare," Waller said. "She's been here a long time, and horses like her are so special. When they've been with you that long, they're certainly a big part of the team. They continue to fly the flag and make you proud.
"We thought she was building up well towards this, and knowing how well she goes at Flemington gave us confidence more than anything. She's a year older, so she just takes that bit longer to find a grand final. We had a little bit of confidence today that the grand final was here this week."
Waller will strongly consider backing Atishu up for a defence of her title in the Champions Stakes next Saturday, where her opposition will include her Cox Plate-winning stablemate Via Sistina.
"There's a pretty good chance she'll be back next week," Waller said. "She'll have some good opposition there, but she won't be worried about them. She'll be saying 'look out for me'."
Bred by Waikato Stud, Atishu is by their champion sire Savabeel out of the No Excuse Needed mare Posy, who won two races and is a sister to the former Champion Three-Year-Old and multiple Group One winner Daffodil.
Atishu is a sister to the Waikato Stud-raced Mazzolino, who herself won the Gr.3 Desert Gold Stakes (1600m) for Marsh.
Go Racing went to $260,000 to secure Atishu as a yearling from Waikato Stud's 2019 Karaka Book 1 draft.
Atishu was entered for the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast earlier this year, but the Go Racing team elected to withdraw her in favour of another season on the racetrack.
