Chris Waller is confident Atishu is ready to fire in Saturday’s Group 1 Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington, with the champion trainer aiming to have the mare at peak fitness for the $2.5 million feature.
The seven-year-old finished third in the race last year, but Waller is optimistic she can go even better this time around.
“I think she’s ready to go,” Waller told Racing.com.
“I’ve made a purpose of just keeping her weight down.
“She does very well between runs, and I think that’s why her best runs are at the end of the prep, because she does so well between races and from her spells we’ve sort of always been behind the eight-ball.”
“We saw that in the spring, we finally got her to peak on the first day of Cup week (when winning the Empire Rose), and then she ran second to Via Sistina on the last day (in the Champions Stakes).
“So we’ve made a purpose of just keeping her a bit fitter. She’s ready to peak.”
Atishu has an outstanding record at Flemington, where she will be racing for the 12th time on Saturday.
Her record at headquarters includes Group 1 victories in last year’s Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) and Champions Stakes (2000m), as well as wins in the 2023 Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) and 2022 Group 2 Matriarch Stakes (2000m).
Blake Shinn takes over the reins this weekend, with Atishu coming off a fifth-place finish under Damien Lane in the Group 1 All-Star Mile (1600m).
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