Mazu made a triumphant entry into Group 1 company and continued to shadow the progress of Redzel in winning Saturday’s transferred $1 million TAB Doomben 10,000 (1200m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Five years after Peter and Paul Snowden won the Doomben 10,000 with Redzel, Mazu carried the same Triple Crown Syndications colours to victory for the stable to reaffirm why he secured a slot in the 2022 Everest earlier in the week.
Ridden by Sam Clipperton, Mazu ($3.30 favourite) settled in the box seat and ran beyond early leader Zoustyle ($20) inside the final 200 metres before holding off Paulele ($11), who tracked Mazu into the race, and the swooping Entriviere ($7) surging widest of all for third.
The winner’s stablemate Signore Fox, who was the $101 outsider of the field, finished fourth.
“It’s been a very good preparation let me tell you,” an emotional Paul Snowden told SKY Thoroughbred Central.
“It’s a big relief, there was massive speed here and I was watching him in the run and we used him up to get him to a spot and they didn’t back off.
“He didn’t get a chance to travel as much as he does in his races, he does hit that flat spot, but his ability to absorb the pressure and still be strong at the end is why we’ve got a slot in The Everest and why we’re there.”
Clipperton indicated that Mazu struggled to show his best on the Heavy 8 surface but, despite his indifference to the conditions rallied to win his sixth-consecutive race, five of them since being gelded.
“I was thinking at the 600-metre mark that we were in strife, but he was chasing a hot speed and (he) was out of his comfort zone,” Clipperton said.
“He really wasn’t sure on the surface, it’s a different (type of) Heavy track (at Eagle Farm), which is well documented, and I just tried to pick him up as best as I could and get him as far down the straight on the bridle.
“He’s just a star this horse, he knows how to win and we’ve got a great rapport with each other, even though I was concerned I could feel he was always going to pick up and just had to have faith in the horse.
“In the end he got to the front too early and then he thought his job was done and we had Paulele breathing down our neck. He’s a winner, you raise the bar and he jumps it.”
Redzel, who was similarly rejuvenated after being gelded, won the first two editions of The Everest in 2017 and 2018 and Mazu will get his first opportunity on October 15.
Sportsbet has Mazu as an $8 second favourite for the $15m Everest (1200m) at Randwick, with the Royal Ascot-bound Nature Strip the $4 favourite.
– racing.com
