Pride stable trifecta topped by Mazu in Hall Mark Stakes

At eight years old, the exceptional Mazu maintains his sharp turn of foot and zest for competition, setting the tempo wire-to-wire for his third consecutive triumph in Saturday's Group 3 $250,000 Hall Mark Stakes (1200m).

Previously, Pride's star had mastered the Hall Mark on rain-affected surfaces where he excels, but facing a firmer strip, he produced a sharp 1m 8.19s to prevail once more.

It represented a masterstroke from trainer Joe Pride across the board, highlighted by his sweep of the trifecta with siblings King's Secret in second and Private Eye third, the stable trio covered by under half a length.

Kerguelen, another from the Pride yard, was only a length-and-a-half adrift in fifth place.

"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.''

Ridden by Rachel King, Mazu ($3.70) held on by a head from King's Secret ($7.50), with favourite Private Eye ($3.30) grabbing third just a short neck away after a solid finish.

"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.''

This Hall Mark Stakes success was the stable's second straight trifecta in a key event at Randwick, after Chris Waller saddled Fireball to edge Campione D'Italia and Diameter in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes.

The win lifted Mazu's statistics to 10 successes in 46 starts, with prizemoney now at $10.8 million for Triple Crown Syndications, led by Chris Ward and Sam Manion.

Trainer Pride dissected the efforts of his quartet of sprinters, starting with the victor. "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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