Maurice’s multi-millionaire marvel
Mazu resolutely defies the challenges of his stablemates King's Secret & Private Eye to win his third consecutive Hall Mark S. G3. (PHOTO: Georgia Young)
Six seasons of racing have not diminished the competitive zest of Maurice’s son Mazu, who won his third straight $250,000 ATC Hall Mark S. 1200m G3 at Randwick with a flat refusal to let his stablemates King’s Secret & Private Eye get past him. And on Saturday’s Good4 track it was the fastest of Mazu’s Hall Mark victories, run in 1:08.19.
His jockey Rachel King explained, “I think he just knows it’s this race; he loves it. I was concerned with the firmer deck today; I just didn’t know how he’d let down on it. But that last 50, his ears pinned flat back on his head, and he just wanted to beat them.”
Mazu leads all the way and wins the TAB Hall Mark Stakes for a third year in-a-row! 💪@RachelK11 @PrideRacing pic.twitter.com/rki1yp3bXu
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 18, 2026
It was Mazu’s 10th career success and 8th in black type company since his winning debut as a 2YO in February 2021. His first stakes win was in that year’s Brian Crowley S. LR and the following Autumn he put together 5 consecutive wins, culminating in the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint G2, defeating In The Congo, and the Doomben 10,000 G1, beating Paulele.
At four, he added a pair of Group 1 placings and earned $5.1 million, thanks to placings in Giga Kick’s Everest & Private Eye’s Nature Strip Stakes, which secured the inaugural Sydney Sprint Series bonus.
The Hall Mark Stakes has been Mazu’s sole victory in each of his last three seasons – so far – but he’s also posted six Group race performances, including an excellent close third under second topweight behind Marhoona & Jedibeel in last month’s The Galaxy G1.
Bred by Marc & Lindy De Stoop’s Parsons Creek Farm, Mazu and his Group 1-winning half-sister Headway are the best of five winners left by Flying Spur’s Group-placed daughter Chatelaine before her death last Spring. Chatelaine was a great-grand-daughter of the 1966 Thousand Guineas winner Cendrillon whose descendants also include current Hong Kong Group winner My Wish.
A $180,000 purchase by Triple Crown Syndications from the Parsons Creek draft at the 2020 Inglis Classic Sale, Mazu has now earned $10.8 million for his owners, including Marc De Stoop, and ranks as Maurice’s leading earner in either hemisphere.
And he’s not finished yet, as his trainer Joe Pride says, “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.”
Mazu, Group 1 winner Cosmic Crusader, millionaire Matcha Latte and 3YOs Amazake, Cannae, Classic Gem, Miewa & Queen Of Clubs are among Maurice’s 12 Australian stakes performers this season. The Japanese superstar is now among the top 15 active Australian-based sires with $6.9 million prizemoney so far in 2025/26.
