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The journey to The Everest has begun for exciting sprinter Mazu.
Everest slot holder Mazu has been plucked out of the spelling paddock early as Peter & Paul Snowden leave no stone unturned in his build up to the $15 million sprint.
A rising star of Australian racing, the Doomben 10,000 winner is back at the Snowdens' Randwick stable where he has been put on a special diet aimed at increasing his strength for the arduous spring campaign ahead.
"He's in good shape," Peter Snowden said.
"He has got a bit stronger, but we are really pouring the feed into him and trying to build him up.
"He's a good stable horse and eats really well so the idea is to get him in a bit earlier, get some more feed into him and see if we can't get him a bit stronger."
Unbeaten in five starts since being gelded, Mazu's career trajectory has been compared to that of the Snowdens' two-time Everest winner Redzel, who likewise emerged as a top-class sprinter after he was cut.
Redzel captured the Doomben 10,000 in 2017 before returning in the spring to win the Concorde Stakes-The Shorts-Everest treble.
Twelve months later he again claimed the Concorde Stakes, finished fifth in the Premiere Stakes then rebounded to snare his second Everest title.
Mazu will follow a similar path through the traditional lead-up races, but while he will be the stable's flagship horse for the carnival, the Snowdens are also excited by the depth in their team of rising three-year-olds, including recent J J Atkins winner Sheeza Belter.
"We have been a bit limited due to the depth of our good horses, but we are starting to get a good team together now," Peter Snowden said.
"Mazu is the kingpin, but we have some really nice (rising) three-year-old fillies.
"We're lucky to have quite a few of them at the moment, Cythera, Russian Conquest, Sheeza Belter, Paris Dior, Miss Hellfire.
"There are some nice fillies there we can look forward to in the spring."