New South Wales Accolade for Atishu (NZ)

The New South Wales Racehorse Owners Association celebrated their state’s equine stars of the 2022-23 season during the Night of Champions Awards at Randwick on Thursday, and Karaka graduate Atishu (NZ) (Savabeel) was among the big winners.

Alongside fellow Group One winner Sunshine In Paris (Invader), Atishu was crowned a joint winner of Queen of the Autumn.

Atishu has been a flagbearer throughout her career for syndicators Go Racing, who bought her for $260,000 from the Book 1 draft of breeders Waikato Stud at Karaka 2019. Her 32-start career has produced eight wins, 10 placings and more than A$1.63m in stakes.

The biggest win of Atishu’s career came in the Group One Queen of the Turf Stakes (1600m) during The Championships at Randwick in April, which secured her a share of the Queen of the Autumn award.

But she has also won the Group Two Matriarch Stakes (2000m) and Group Three Bill Ritchie Stakes (1400m), along with a pair of Listed victories in New Zealand when she began her career in the Cambridge stable of Stephen Marsh as a three-year-old filly. Atishu has placed in another six black-type races, including the Group Two The Ingham (1600m) and the Group Two Emancipation Stakes (1500m).

Atishu was one of two Group One-winning mares bred by Waikato Stud to be honoured during Thursday night’s awards. The other was the Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) heroine Icebath (NZ) (Sacred Falls), who was named Champion Provincial Horse (sponsored by SKY Thoroughbred Central). The winner of more than A$5m in prize money, Icebath is trained by Brad Widdup at Hawkesbury.