Veteran sprinter Mazu reminded everyone of his capabilities before The Shorts, and he repeated the performance at the finish line, leaving his rivals in his wake for an unexpected victory.
On more than one occasion, Mazu halted his progress towards the starting gates, refusing to move for several minutes and lashing out at the horses accompanying the clerk of the course as they tried to encourage him forward.
The standoff was eventually resolved, and Mazu carried his stubbornness into the race, taking the lead and showing no intention of yielding.
He held on by a neck from Joliestar, with Mazu’s stablemate King’s Secret, also trained by Joe Pride, finishing a further nose behind in third.
“He walked straight out of here going, no, no I’ll go to the gates, and then stopped up there. Sometimes he can stop two or three times on the way to the gates,” Pride recounted.
“He’s going to beat me sooner or later.
“It’s funny, he’s so reluctant to get there, but then so quick to get home.”
The winner of The Shorts traditionally earns a coveted slot in The Everest, but Pride expressed a lack of enthusiasm for the October feature with the eight-year-old campaigner.
Mazu has participated in The Everest (1200m) on three occasions, with his best result being a third-place finish behind Giga Kick in 2022. Pride indicated that while the horse’s owners would make the final decision, his personal preference would be to avoid a direct confrontation with Hong Kong’s star galloper Ka Ying Rising.
“To be fair to him, he’s had a few goes in Everests and it’s not really his race,” Pride stated.
“The only thing I would say is if on the day it was wet, he’d probably be in the contest. But other than that, running a nice sixth or seventh doesn’t interest me a lot.”
Pride described Mazu as “an old marvel” and was delighted with the victory in The Shorts (1100m) on Saturday, expressing equal satisfaction with the performance of stablemate King’s Secret.
It is likely both sprinters will compete again later in the carnival, though they might be entered in different races for their subsequent starts.
“They could both end up in the Premiere Stakes, but I think maybe with King’s Secret he’ll find a bit more improvement off that run than some of the others, so either the Premiere here or the Gilgai Stakes down in Melbourne, which his brother (Private Eye) won,” Pride suggested.
“The Sydney Stakes is a likely race for them both, and maybe the Russell Balding Stakes as well.”
Rachel King has developed a strong rapport with Mazu, having ridden him in his last six outings, including his Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) triumph in April. She commented that he always gives his best, despite his eccentricities.
“They should never forget about him. He’s so honest,” King remarked.
“Even though he gives us hell before the race, he really wants to be there.”
In a race where horses starting from the rear struggled to make an impact, the jockeys of Everest hopefuls Joliestar (second), Headwall (fifth), and Ninja (ninth) all offered positive assessments of their mounts’ efforts under the prevailing conditions.
“It was gifted to the horses on speed. He ran well,” Tommy Berry commented on Ninja, the sole horse presently confirmed for an Everest slot.
The Shorts winner often attracts attention for an Everest slot, and while trainer Joe Pride is hesitant about the eight-year-old’s chances, you can find odds for the feature race at Australian betting sites.