Mazu, the standout eight-year-old, preserves his blistering speed and love for racing, leading all the way to bag his hat-trick in the Group 3 $250,000 Hall Mark Stakes (1200m) on Saturday.

Joe Pride’s veteran had prior Hall Mark successes on heavy tracks suited to his style, but he adapted superbly to the firm conditions, recording a swift 1m 8.19s for the win.

The result showcased Pride’s training prowess from various angles, most notably with the stable locking the trifecta as King’s Secret and Private Eye filled the next two berths, separated by less than half a length among the three.

The trainer’s fourth participant, Kerguelen, was a length-and-a-half behind in fifth.

“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.”

Rachel King guided the $3.70 chance Mazu to a brave head verdict over $7.50 shot King’s Secret, as $3.30 market leader Private Eye surged late for third, a short neck back.

“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.”

At Randwick, the Hall Mark Stakes provided Pride’s second feature trifecta in succession, emulating Chris Waller’s trio of Fireball over Campione D’Italia and Diameter in the Group 1 Champagne Stakes.

Mazu now has 10 wins from 46 attempts, elevating his stake money to $10.8 million courtesy of owners Triple Crown Syndications via Chris Ward and Sam Manion.

Pride assessed the runs of each sprinter in turn, opening with Mazu. “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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