Bruno Cannatelli
No stakes racing in New Zealand on Saturday meant that all the attention was focussed on Australia and in particular, Flemington, for Coolmore/Derby Day, and Rosehill for Golden Eagle Day.
The Coolmore Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner hails from a US family while a British bred horse took out the Golden Eagle (1500m) so pickings looked slim for the New Zealand Stud Book. The Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) winner Goldrush Guru (American Pharaoh) does descend from a New Zealand-bred Le Filou (Vatellor) mare but the connection is five generations back.
With one remaining Group 1 for the day, the Empire Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), to the rescue came the ever-reliable Savabeel (Zabeel) when Atishu grittily got the better of Amelia's Jewel (Siyouni) within the shadows of the post to add a third Group 1 to the mare's grand record.
Atishu loves Flemington. The Empire Rose was her second Group 1 there plus she has two Group 2s and two Group 1 placings at Melbourne's headquarters. At this meeting two years back she was fifth in the Empire Rose won by Icebath (Sacred Falls) then backed up seven days later to land the Matriarch Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m).
This time last year for the Empire Rose she was the only runner to make a race of it, a length in arrears of the break-your-heart tactics of Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai). True to form she was back seven days later to beat a quality f ield in the Champions Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) which is the new name for the time-honoured Mackinnon Stakes.
Now seven, her first three runs this spring may have been at Group 1 level but her form was not what we have come to expect. Was her age a factor? Was it time to think about a stud career? Third in the Might and Power Stakes (Gr 1, 200m) was more like it and her return to Flemington finally brought an overdue Empire Rose victory at her third try.
If the pattern holds, she will no doubt line up this coming Saturday and having proved that a seven-day backup is no issue she will undoubtedly be a huge chance to repeat in the Champions Stakes.
Atishu is not only a product of New Zealand, she also had her first nine races here at two and three when trained by Stephen Marsh. She left our shores on a winning streak of four, including two Listed races at Riccarton. From Chris Waller's stable she added two wins at four. One was the Bill Ritchie Handicap (Gr 3, 1400m), plus a couple of black-type thirds.
Her five-year-old season yielded another two wins, including her maiden Group 1 in the Queen of the Turf Stakes (1600m). Improving with age, her six-year-old season brought two more and the Empire Rose made it 11 for a bank of $5.1 million.
Of Savabeel's 145 stakes winners only Kawi's seven Group 1s and Probabeel's four exceed Atishu's three which ties her with Lucia Valentina and Sangster. There is still the autumn to go so she could yet add to her tally.
She was purchased for $260,000 by Albert Bosma's Go Racing from the Waikato Stud draft at the 2019 NZB Karaka Yearling Sale (Book 1). Since then her younger sister Mazzolino (Savabeel) landed the Desert Gold Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m) and now that Atishu has her three elite-level wins she equals the three by her dam's sister Daffodil (No Excuse Needed). Her winning stake of $600,000, when added to Savabeel's Australian sire earnings, will see Savabeel just outside the top ten. A remarkable sire, the second-most prolific sire of stakes winners in New Zealand history, Savabeel saved the honour of the NZSB.
