Atishu blows her rivals away in the Champions Stakes
Atishu (Savabeel) chalked up her second Group 1 success when she lived up to last Saturday’s form by winning yesterday’s Champions Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Flemington.
Last weekend, the Chris Waller-trained six-year-old came the closest to tearaway leader Pride Of Jenni in the Empire Rose Stakes, eventually finishing a length adrift in second.
And yesterday – 40 minutes after Pride Of Jenni proved that win no fluke by claiming the Champions Mile – Atishu stepped up to 2000 metres and flew home for an imperious length-and-three-quarter victory in the $3 million Champions Stakes.
Having taken her first elite-level race in April’s Queen Of The Turf Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick, the mare bred by Savabeel’s (Zabeel) Waikato Stud took her prize-money to $3.7 million by sealing her biggest payday with the $1.8 million first prize.
Ridden, like last week, by James McDonald, she provided the star jockey’s third Group 1 of the carnival after the VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) success of Riff Rocket (American Pharoah) and the VRC Oaks (Gr 1, 2500m) win of Zardozi (Kingman).
“To run second behind a horse [last week] that franked the form in the previous race, horses don’t run that well and not win,” McDonald said.
“When I walked out to Chris for the instructions I said, ‘We’re on a winner, I reckon. We’ve just got to do the little things right and get the splits when we need it.’
“The way the circle track has been playing, it is hard to make up ground but when it happens like that with the pace generated early, we bided our time and produced the goods.”
A slight firmer into $8.50, Atishu was settled eighth from barrier five by McDonald while a brisk pace was set by veteran Zaaki (Leroidesanimaux, $4.40) and then British raider West Wind Blows (Teofilo, $2.80 fav), who was set alight around the field by Jamie Spencer to take over at the 1400-metre mark.
While West Wind Blows weakened to finish ninth, Zaaki ran fourth and another on-pacer Prowess (Proisir, $5.50) made little ground up the inside in coming sixth, Atishu flew home to provide McDonald with his 85th Group 1 win.
She and McDonald denied Damien Oliver a Group 1 win on his last day at a Flemington Cup carnival. The retiring great had to be content with second aboard another six-year-old mare, the Ed Cummings-trained Duais (Shamus Award), who’d been midfield on the fence in her first run in the colours of new owner Yulong Stud.
McDonald’s four wins this week earned him a third straight Ron Hutchinson Award as leading rider at the Cup carnival, decided on a 3-2-1 basis for top-three finishes in each race. That was despite Jamie Kah riding the most winners over the four days, with six.
Waller took the JB Cummings award as leading trainer, though after the Champions Stakes brought his 155th top-level success the master trainer lamented it had been a “quiet” and frustrating week. Despite winning the Derby with Riff Rocket, he had to settle for Soulcombe (Frankel) and Sheraz (Sea The Stars) filling the minor placings behind the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Without A Fight (Teofilo) in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m).
“Relief,” he said of Atishu’s win. “We’ve had a quiet week. We ran second and third in the Cup and to get a win on the last day – this day has gone from strength to strength.
“I think she should have won a Group 1 on the first day – we all think that as owners and trainers when they don’t win. [But] to see Pride Of Jenni come out and blow them way in the race before [Atishu’s] I guess that gave us a little bit of confidence.
“Winning any race this week is special, but that was something special.”
Atishu was bought by Albert Bosma’s Go Racing for NZ$260,000 from Waikato Stud’s 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale draft.
Out of dual winner Posy (No Excuses Needed), Atishu is a sister to Group 3 winner Mazzolino. Posy (No Excuses Needed), herself a sister to former Champion New Zealand Three-Year-Old and multiple Group 1 winner Daffodil.
All six of Posy’s foals are by Savabeel, but Waikato opted for change last spring when she was covered by Savabeel’s son Noverre.
Atishu of 32 individual Group 1 and 104 stakes winners for Savabeel, who is standing for a fee of NZ$100,000 (plus GST). It has been a lucrative week at Flemington for the stallion, with his daughter Skew Wiff having taken out the Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) on Tuesday, while Forgot You landed the Furphy Plate (Listed, 1800m) on the same card.
Waller was full of praise for Flemington’s carnival, which featured bumper crowds on all four days, and for Australian racing in general.
“We’re in a great era. We’ve seen the photos and heard the stories from our grandparents talk about the crowds that used to come to racing. Racing is now a celebration around Australia, it is being watched from all parts of the world,” he said.
“Yes, there’s competition between the two states, but so what. It is making racing better. There’s so many good things happening.”