3 minute read
Trainer and jockey quotes after the Group 2 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint at Randwick on Saturday won by Mazu.
Race Result:
1st: Mazu (P&P Snowden/S Clipperton) - $2.70
2nd: In The Congo (G Waterhouse & A Bott/T Berry) - $2.45F
3rd: Paulele (J Cummings/K McEvoy) - $3.60
Winning Time: 1:14.49 Last 600m: 35.88
Margins: 1½L x 2½L
"Welcome to first grade Mazu!"
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 9, 2022
It was a small but mighty field in the Arrowfield Sprint.@SnowdenRacing1 @TripleCrownSynd @aus_turf_club pic.twitter.com/DMkjzC1PNA
Winning Trainer: Peter & Paul Snowden (Paul Snowden comments)
On the undefeated prep and what's next:"To go unbeaten in a preparation is really hard to do in this day and age. He has deserved his right to win a Group Two and beat some handy horses in their own right. Obviously now, we can look forward to the spring with him and see what we do."
On if he can run further and the training performance: "He can absorb the pressure and that is his biggest attribute. The horse can run seven furlongs any day of the week and possibly further but what he had a tendency to do was over-race a bit much in those early days and we spent so much time just trying to get this horse to back off. Just how he absorbed that pressure and then released off the back of that, that is certainly a special horse."
On a possible Everest tilt: "He's got that ability to absorb pressure and we all know how good an asset that can be at the top level, especially one race in particular (The Everest). When he can absorb pressure like that and kick off the back of it and respond, that's a very good attribute to have."
On comparison to Redzel: "We had to do that (gelding) to that horse as well. He was doing things a little bit upside down and he got gelded, we had to start from scratch and we came away with a superstar. He is earning the tag but he's still not there yet. But when he keeps ticking these boxes and picking off the opposition the way he is doing along the way, we're going in the right direction."
Winning Jockey: Sam Clipperton
On the training performance and the gelding making the horse: "This horse is just incredible really. Full credit to Peter and Paul (Snowden). It was well documented he was a rogue as a colt, always had a stack of ability. How they've just prepared this horse, they could've easily gone to the Galaxy and he would've given it a shake."
"But they haven't got ahead of his time, let the horse tell then when he's ready. lLook four horse field today, but it didn't matter because it was all about Paulele and In The Congo. They were the horses to beat and it was a good feeling idling up next to In The Congo, I was mindful that Gai (Waterhouse) and Adrian's (Bott) they don't go down without a fight."
"But I think we've got a serious horse on our hands and there's a race in October (The Everest) that comes to mind that he may just end up in because he's certainly good enough."
On the future: "He's a late three-year-old now he's a gelding who knows where he's at? What might we be saying about him when he's five? If he can just keep improving as he comes back in next time. Like I said he's four next season so there's a couple of races that come to mind."
"I think he'll run 1400m with cover, he was a little bit keen today exposed but it's just another string to his bow. He's just push button and I do think he's going to be better on top of the ground too so that's another thing.
Beaten Jockeys:
Tommy Berry (In The Congo): "He was really good. Struggled in the ground. At the 600m I really tried to get a break between myself and Sam. As I looked over his horse was just cantering through it. Different horses on that ground. The winner is deep into his preparation and we are at the start of ours."
Kerrin McEvoy (Paulele): "He ran well. He's a better horse on top of the ground."
Hugh Bowman (I Am Lethal): "It was too wet for him."
