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Jockey Sam Clipperton believes Mazu (Maurice-Chatelaine, by Flying Spur) has the ability to beat Horse of the Year Nature Strip (Nicconi) in this year's The Everest, reports racingnsw.com.au.
"To know we are on track for an Everest we want to see him finish top three," Clipperton said of Saturday's Gr2 Premiere Stakes.
"The Shorts told us we are in with a chance. Nature Strip is going to be awfully hard to beat but it told us he can mix it with them. He won six in a row going into that and it showed us we have a contender on our hands. First-up last preparation he won a Benchmark 78 and first-up this preparation he was beaten 2.4 by Nature Strip. He's only going to continue getting better as well. I'm sure he is going to be very competitive this year but next year he's going to be more seasoned against the hard heads."
Mazu has won seven of his 12 starts and $1.7million, including the Gr1 Doomben Ten Thousand.
He was a $180,000 purchase at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale from the Parsons Creek Pastoral draft.
"The barrier allows me to take up a nice position behind the speed," he said. "We need luck at the right time but it eliminates the luck [by] establishing a position early in the race. It's a race we would be expecting him to be very competitive in."