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| Staff Writer |
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Mazu is the first horse to have been locked into a two-year Everest deal, by the Star and Arrowfield slot, and Snowden is confident that Mazu will only get better in 2023 after his third place in the 2022 Everest this year.
The dual Everest-winning trainer has high hopes for the well-regarded Mazu.
“He ran very well and we expect him to only get better over the next twelve months.”
The 4YO son of Japanese stallion Maurice, has amassed over A$3.3 million in career earnings. The Triple-Crown owned entire will make his next start in the Nature Strip Stakes over 1300 meters.
Mazu, ridden by Sam Clipperton scored his most significant win to date, in the Gr.1 Doomben 10,000, defeating Godolphin’s star Paulele.
Snowden, who trains in partnership with his son Paul, is chasing a third win in The Everest after the dual triumphs of Redzel in 2017-18.
There is reason to draw comparisons between Redzel and Mazu as both Team Snowden sprinters are raced by Michael and Chris Ward of Triple Crown fame and came into The Everest off the back of breakthrough Group One wins in the Doomben 10,000 during the Brisbane winter carnival.
Mazu returned this spring for a close fifth to Nature Strip in The Shorts before being nosed out by Lost And Running in a thriller for the Premiere Stakes.
Prior to the Everest, Snowden had conceded that if anything it would be the 4YO’s relative inexperience – The Everest will be just his 14th career start – would be significant a concern.
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Going for back-to-back wins in the world’s richest race on turf, Nature Strip couldn’t match Giga Kick in the dying stages before finishing fourth in a result no one saw coming. Private Eye was momentarily hailed the winner before finishing second with Mazu taking the minor placing - just ahead of Nature Strip.
“Mazu will follow a similar pattern as this year, with a race in the Brisbane Winter Carnival again followed by the lead races for the Everest in 2023, like The Shorts and the Premier Stakes,” said the veteran trainer of future plans.
Snowden said Mazu has "come a long way in a hurry" since the gelding won a benchmark 75 sprint to start his dominant, unbeaten five-race autumn campaign last year.
In a unique deal, John Messara, representing joint slot-holders Arrowfield and The Star, has such confidence in Mazu’s potential he reached a long-term agreement with the gelding’s connections for successive The Everests.
“He’s the one to beat in The Everest next year,” said Snowden.