The decision by the owners of Atishu not to sell the outstanding mare earlier this year paid huge dividends when she added another success in last Saturday’s Group 1 A$1million Empire Rose Stakes on the first day of the Melbourne Cup carnival.

The seven-year-old, part-owned by Dannevirke-based Dean Shuker, brought up her 11th win from 46 starts and took her stake earnings past the A$5million mark with one of the most courageous performances of her illustrious career in the 1600m feature.

Shuker and his wife Pam were on course at Flemington last Saturday to partake in the celebrations and have remained in Melbourne to see her contest this Saturday’s Group 1 A$3million Champion Stakes (2000m), where she will come up against dominant Cox Plate victor Via Sistena.

Atishu has drawn the ace barrier in the event and will be ridden by Jye McNeil while James McDonald, who was aboard Atishu last Saturday, will stick with Via Sistena and has drawn barrier four.

“She is going to be up against a really good one in Via Sistena this Saturday but I’m not saying she can’t win,” a delighted Dean Shuker said from Melbourne this week.

“We thought if she could pick up one win at this carnival it would be good and she has already done that so anything else is a bonus.

“It was such a thrill to see her win again last Saturday. She was outstanding.

“We certainly made the right call not to sell her.”

Atishu races in the colours of New Zealand syndicators Go Racing with Shuker owning a five per cent shareholding in the mare. There are 19 involved in the ownership group.

The mare was entered for the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast in May of this year and Albert Bosma, head of Go Racing, put it to the syndicate to either sell her or give her one more racing campaign.

“Sixty-five per cent of the syndicate was in favour of not selling so she was withdrawn from the sale,” Shuker said.

“It’s proved to be the right decision but sometimes you get a bit gun-shy because you don’t want to see her get injured.

“But she is still perfectly sound and has come through last Saturday’s race in great order.

“In fact the vets here can’t get over how well she is after all the hard racing she has had.”

Last Saturday’s win was Atishu’s third Group 1 triumph and made up for a luckless second behind Pride Of Jenni in last year’s edition of the fillies and mares’ feature.

On that day, 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 1 races in that same tearaway style and was named Australia’s Horse of the Year.

This time Atishu took up a closer position 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.

“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.

“She gave her all. She was out on her feet with 100 to go but, like the good mare she is, they just a find a way to win.”

Atishu has now had 46 starts for 11 wins, 15 placings and A$5,094,620 in stakes, with her two previous Group 1 victories coming in the Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) as well as last year’s Champions Stakes (2000m).

Flemington has been a particularly happy hunting ground for her, with nine starts at the famous Melbourne track for victories in the Empire Rose, the Champions Stakes, the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) and the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m).

Atishu has become a mainstay of trainer Chris 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.”

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 Group 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.

HB race days moved to other venues

With no racing expected on the Hastings track for at least 18 months, date and venue changes have been confirmed for the remaining Hawke’s Bay Racing racedays for the 2023-24 racing season.

These have been approved by both Entain NZ in terms of servicing and TAB NZ through the dates process.

Included in these relocations are two RACE meetings. These have also been moved due to an anticipated delay in the return to racing at Awapuni. This is due to a particularly wet spring and the consequential deferral of sand-slitting the track.

The Little Avondale Stud Lowland Stakes will now be run on Sunday, March 2.

This and two black-type races on Saturday, April 12 (Hawke’s Bay Cup meeting) have received Pattern Committee approval in terms of their venue change.

There will be minor distance tweaks, in some instances, to programmes already advertised.

HB part-owned Swayzee late entry for NZ Cup

Last year’s New Zealand Trotting Cup winner Swayzee is heading back to defend his crown in next Tuesday’s $1million Group 1 event.

The connections of the six-year-old gelding, which include Hawke’s Bay men Lester Drake and Neville Jackson, paid a $28,000 late entry fee to get the horse into Tuesday’s 3200m race after a decision by the horse’s trainer Jason Grimson to put him on a plane to Christchurch this Sunday.

“It’s going to be a big ask for the horse,” Lester Drake said this week.

“He races this Friday night in a race that qualifies him for a million dollar bonus. He then has a seven hour float trip and then flies out on Sunday.”

“But we think he’s better than last year so it will be great to see him run in the Cup again.”

Drake and Jackson both own a five per cent share in Swayzee with Grimson and Australian businessman Mike Boots being the main shareholders.

Swayzee is the winner of 23 races from 56 starts and has earned more than A$1.2million in stakemoney. He has won his last two starts, the most recent being in the prestigious Victoria Cup.

Swayzee has drawn barrier 15 in Tuesday’s New Zealand Cup but Drake doesn’t see this as too much of a problem.

“He’s alright out there. He’ll probably start from about the middle of the second line and he started from 11 when he won last year,” he said.

Swayzee is presently equal second favourite at $6.00, along with the main New Zealand hope Merlin. The other Australian raider Leap To Fame is a raging hot favourite at less than $2.00 for a win.

Leap To Fame, a year younger half-brother to Swayzee, is unbeaten in his last six starts and has drawn barrier 11.

Merlin drew 10, the outside of the front row, while Don't Stop Dreaming, another good New Zealand-trained chance, drew ideally at 5.

There are three emergencies in the Cup meaning, if they come out, then Leap To Fame could actually start off the front line.