The next Redzel?

Winning in the blood

They say winning is a habit.

It is a habit that has become embodied in the new standout of Australian racing in Mazu. 

The latest three-year-old gelding on the racing scene to take the sprinting ranks by storm – quite literally as well (we’ll get to that later). 

Mazu’s sire is a horse called Maurice, one of the most incredible horse’s ever to grace the turf. 

With eleven wins from 18 starts amassing just a tick over $12.5 million in prize money, Maurice’s stud career would see him bare offspring in the form of Mazu. 

Then there are the trainers of his Aussie sprinter – Peter & Paul Snowden. 

A father & son training duo who has been there and done it all. 

Where it all began

Let’s rewind it to February 26, 2021.

Mazu’s first-ever start would come in your stock-standard maiden race at Canterbury over 1100 metres. 

No future champions are expected—no natural substance is expected from the race. 

Mazu would ping to the lead, find the front and hold on for a narrow victory. 

Canterbury is often a track favouring leaders, so you could be forgiven for not thinking he would put together a string of big wins.  

The snip does the trick.

It is usually deemed the ultimate gear change for horses.

It can cause the transformation into a completely different horse when a colt is gelded. 

Since the maiden win, Mazu had slowly and steadily made his way to becoming a genuine city-class sprinter. 

His sixth start as a colt was a brilliant win in the Listed Brian Crowley at Randwick over 1200 metres. 

But the decision was made to spell him and geld him.

His five starts after that call have seen a rise through the ranks like no other.  

Repeating the feats of Redzel

Peter and Paul Snowden used the Doomben 10000 to catapult the career of Redzel.

It looks as though the same path has been taken with Mazu. 

The Snowdens entered him in the Doomben 10000 after he started his preparation as a gelding with four consecutive wins in Sydney. 

Much like Redzel, Mazu loves the wet tracks, and his sprint is vicious. 

Taking the racing world by storm

As the rain tumbled down at Eagle Farm for the running of the Doomben 10000, the hopes of Mazu collecting the winning cheque would only grow. 

At about the 300-metre mark, he was labouring to pick up ground on the leaders during the race. 

But as we have seen with his wins on heavy tracks in Sydney, the last part of his races shows his strong will to win like Redzel. 

Those red colours were burning their way to the lead and careering away toward the victory. 

Mazu has officially stamped himself as a genuine Group 1 performer. 

The scary thing is that he is still not the finished product. 

Being a three-year-old gelding, there is still heaps to come for this rising star. 

The next mountain to climb is The Everest during the spring. 

Something Redzel ticked off twice. 

Mazu is currently a $9 elect to win The Everest with BetDeluxe.