Mazu, a horse that Havelock North couple David and Bry Mossman have a share in, took his stake earnings past the A$10million mark when finishing a gallant third in last Saturday’s A$3million Russell Balding Stakes in Sydney.
The seven-year-old gelding gave a great sight in the 1300m Randwick feature, setting a good pace in the lead before skipping clear rounding the home turn.
He was still in front half-way up the home straight and it was only in the last 200 metres that he was run down, first by the race favourite Jimmysstar and then by Lady Shenandoah.
Jimmysstar unleashed a scintillating late burst to win by 2-3/4 lengths while Lady Shenandoah also produced big strides down the outside of the track to claim second by half a length.
For Mazu to finish so close, behind two of the best present day horses racing in Australia, spoke volumes of the gelding’s tenacity.
The soft track conditions certainly helped Mazu but the fact that he was able to finish clear of several other top sprinters, including Briasa, War Machine, Private Eye and Rothfire, showed just what a genuine racehorse he is.
The Mossman’s own a five per cent share in Mazu who now has a record of nine wins, four seconds and seven thirds from 42 starts.
He earned his connections A$280,000 from his third last Saturday and also picked up A$700,000 when finishing ninth out of 12 in the A$20million The Everest (1200m) at Randwick the start before.
Mazu has been a Group 1 winner, that being in the Doomben 10,000 (1200m) at Eagle Farm in May 2022.
He has also won a Group 2 Arrowfield Stakes (1200m) at Randwick as well as back-to-back wins in the Group 3 Hallmark Stakes (1200m) on the Randwick track.
Sydney-based jockey Rachel King was having her second race-ride on Mazu last Saturday and was full of praise for the horse after the race.
“He was so brave,” King said.
“He is going really well and is the ultimate racehorse.”
Trainer Joe Pride says Mazu has always been a quick horse but has come back particularly fast this preparation.
“At this stage he (Mazu) is going about as quick as he has in his life,” he said.
Deserved big win for Jimmysstar
Two weeks on from a luckless third in the A$20 million Group 1 The Everest (1200m), Jimmysstar had a well-deserved moment in the spotlight with a dominant victory in last Saturday’s A$3 million Russell Balding Stakes (1300m) at Randwick.
The New Zealand-bred son of Per Incanto burst on to the big sprint stage in Australia last season with explosive Group 1 victories in the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) and All Aged Stakes (1400m).
All roads led to The Everest this spring, but until Saturday, Jimmysstar had to settle for a series of strong-finishing minor placings. He ran fifth from gate nine in the Group 3 Concorde Stakes (1000m), second from the extreme outside gate in the Group 2 Premiere Stakes (1200m), and then produced one of the standout performances of the race to be third and only a length and a half from Ka Ying Rising after jumping from gate 11 in The Everest.
Saturday was finally Jimmysstar’s day. The six-year-old had a good draw at last in gate four, and regular rider Ethan Brown gave him a perfect and ground-saving run in midfield along the rail.
Brown saw a gap when he needed one early in the home straight, and he angled Jimmysstar into it and pressed the button. Jimmysstar produced his customary blistering turn of foot, bursting into a clear lead and quickly putting the result beyond any doubt.
Jimmysstar went on to win by 2-3/4 lengths from the late-finishing Lady Shenandoah. It was the biggest winning margin in the Russell Balding Stakes, which was added to the Sydney spring calendar in 2019.
“He was due,” Brown said. “I love this horse so much. He’s a beauty, and he’s matured now and he knows what it’s about.
“I spoke to him behind the gates and said, ‘You've got to jump better.’ He did jump better, but he was still a bit sluggish there, and that's just him.
“But the beauty of a good draw, we were able to overcome that and get him into gear. Once we found our spot, he had a beautiful resting run on a good speed and I just had to trust his finish.
“That's what I said to the team and everyone was aware of that. That's what he can do, and he certainly showed his true colours.
“We just needed room, and when we got that, jeez he let go.”
The winner of two of his three starts in New Zealand for Hastings trainer Guy Lowry, a majority share in Jimmysstar was sold to clients of leading Australian trainer Ciaron Maher following a Rating 65 win at Hawke’s Bay, and the chestnut has now gone on to amass more than A$6 million in stakes. He has recorded 10 wins and seven placings in a 22-race career.
“This was obviously well deserved,” Maher’s assistant trainer Johann Gerard-Dubord said.
“He has been running big races all prep. His run in The Everest was huge. To back it up two weeks later, after such a big run, it was not easy to do. He is such a tough horse and it was a very good ride from Ethan.
“It’s well deserved for the horse, because he was winless in this prep until today but could have won both of his last two with better luck. He keeps getting better.
“Obviously, his biggest asset is his turn of foot. We tried to use that this prep and we found out in The Everest that he is able to do it even doing work early. An extra 100m today, with a beautiful ride, he was very impressive.
“He comes back better every prep and I think he will just keep improving. Plenty more good wins coming up.”
Jimmysstar was bred by Wairarapa couple Pete and Chrissy Algie in partnership with Masterton’s Little Avondale Stud. Stud proprietors Sam and Catriona Williams along with the Algies remain in the ownership of the star galloper.
The chestnut gelding is by Little Avondale Stud’s outstanding stallion Per Incanto out of Anniesstar, who won five races including the Listed Feilding Gold Cup (2100m).
Anniesstar is the dam of three named foals and all of them have been winners, including the Group 3 Manawatu Breeders’ Stakes (2000m) victor Charms Star.
Central Districts venue changes
Following on from the New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing release around not running races at Awapuni for the remainder of 2025, the following changes to Central Districts venues and licences have been approved by the TAB NZ Dates Committee:
Friday 14 November
This meeting will be a Waverley RC licence at Waverley, with the following distance alterations: Open 1600m now 1650m, R65 2100m now 2200m, R65 1600m now 1650m, Maiden 1300m now Maiden 1400m (Golden Ticket to Remutaka Classic)
Saturday 20 December
This meeting remains a Manawatu RC licence but will now be at Trentham.
Friday 26 December (Boxing Day)
This meeting will be an Ōtaki-Māori RC licence at Ōtaki with the following distance alteration: R65 2300m now 2200m
Also the Group 3 $120,000 Spring Sprint (1400m), which was to be run at the abandoned Otaki meeting on October 11, will now be run at the Wellington meeting at Trentham on Saturday December 6. This replaces the standard Open 1400m currently advertised.
Memorable success for NZ-based sire
New Zealand-based sire Almanzor made another memorable impact at the highest international level last weekend when his daughter Gezora doubled her Group 1 tally with victory in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Turf (2200m) at Del Mar, in the United States.
Gezora was bred in France where Cambridge Stud’s stallion son of the ill-fated Wootton Bassett stood at Haras d’Etreham before full breeding rights were secured by Brendan and Jo Lindsay’s farm in 2024 following six seasons of shuttle duty.
The Group 1 French Oaks (2100m) heroine had finished out of the frame at her previous start in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2400m) and bounced back in dazzling style in California for trainer Francis Graffard and rider Mickael Barzalona.
It was a first Breeders’ Cup success for the Chantilly-based horseman and a second for Barzalona.
“What a perfect run and what a filly she is. She’s small but has the biggest heart of any I’ve ever trained. She’s amazing and gives us so much emotion,” Graffard said.
It was also a landmark moment for Graffard, who recorded his 13th top-level win of the season, equalling the record for a French trainer set by Andre Fabre in 1992.
Barzalona had ridden stablemate Daryz to victory in the Arc and was reunited with Gezora at Del Mar after winning the Group 2 Prix Saint Alary (2000m) on the three-year-old and finishing runner-up in the Group 1 Prix Vermeille (2400m).
“She’s a top-class filly. We got a good spot in the race, it never slowed down, and I had to ask her to go early, but she was incredibly good to catch the one in front,” he said.
Gezora has been an outstanding international flagbearer for Almanzor with five wins from 10 appearances and was raced by Haras d’Etreham before Peter Brandt’s White Birch Farm purchased her after she had won two of her first four starts.