The impressive Mazu, now an eight-year-old contender, continues to show remarkable pace and passion for the track, dictating the pace from start to finish to notch up his third straight victory in the Group 3 $250,000 Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) held on Saturday.
Joe Pride’s charge had claimed the Hall Mark Stakes before on heavy going, where he thrives, yet on the good surface this time, he clocked an outstanding 1m 8.19s to secure another success.
Pride achieved a significant training feat in multiple respects, especially by dominating the placings as stablemates King’s Secret and Private Eye took second and third spots, with barely half a length covering the trio.
The stable’s additional entrant, Kerguelen, ended up just a length-and-a-half further back in fifth.
“To train the trifecta in any race, particularly a Group 3, is very satisfying,” Pride said. “All four of my horses ran great races.
“But Mazu, what a fantastic old warrior he is. We’ve won three of these in-a-row and done it on a dry track today.
“I think this track’s got a little bit of give in it because In Flight won here last week and she has a similar record where her best form is on wet tracks.”
Mazu, at $3.70, got home by a head under Rachel King ahead of King’s Secret ($7.50), while the $3.30 favourite Private Eye rallied gamely for third, just a short neck behind.
“I think he knows this is his race; he loves it,” King said of Mazu.
“I was concerned with the firmer deck today, I just didn’t know how he’d let down on it.
“But that last 50m, he pinned his ears back and he just wanted to beat them.
“I love seeing an older horse like that, even if he only wins one race a year, he deserves it.”
The Hall Mark Stakes marked the second consecutive feature-race trifecta for the stable at Randwick, following Chris Waller’s preparation of Fireball to defeat Campione D’Italia and Diameter in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes.
Mazu boosted his tally to 10 victories from 46 outings, pushing his earnings to $10.8 million for owners Triple Crown Syndications under Chris Ward and Sam Manion.
Pride then reviewed the performances of his four sprinters, beginning with Mazu. “Mazu’s grumpy, he’s not the kind of guy you want to hang out with on a long-term sort of basis,” Pride said.”It has to be all on his terms and we let him do that. He does everything as he wants, we don’t tell him what he has to do. He’s enjoying his racing and hopefully there’s another season or two left in him.
“We might give him a break. He doesn’t do much in Brisbane generally, but we’ll get him home and have a look at him.
“King’s Secret was really good. I think, out of the race, he’s probably the real eye-catcher because he’s not ready for all this yet, but I thought it was terrific.
“Private Eye’s probably looking for that a little bit further. Maybe just being a bit older, being first up is not as big an advantage as it used to be, but I thought he was good to the line.
“Kerguelen was super, he was really good from the back – so I couldn’t be happier with how it has worked out for the stable.”
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