Star brothers Durazzo and Mazzini hand Armidale Stud a ‘dream’ result in Tassie
Star Thoroughbreds-owned brothers Durazzo and Mazzini capped a memorable day for Armidale Stud and its resident stallion Needs Further (Encosta De Lago) when they both landed their prospective stakes races at Hobart on Sunday.
Both trained by Barry Campbell, Mazzini got the day off to a brilliant start when he opened his stakes account in the Tasmanian Guineas (Listed, 1600m), before Durazzo, not wanting to be outdone by his younger brother, registered his third consecutive stakes victory when claiming the $125,000 The Inevitable Stakes (Listed, 1600m).
Sent off a short-priced favourite, Mazzini, who was partnered by regular rider Kelvin Sanderson, powered clear to win by 3.25 lengths over the Stuart Gandy-trained Crack The Shutters (Alpine Eagle), with Patrick Kearney’s Tempt The Gods (Levendi) a further 1.5 lengths back in third.
Sanderson was also aboard Durazzo, who produced another polished performance, scoring by 0.5 lengths over Just Cruisin’ (Street Boss), with interstate raider Bank Maur (Maurice) a further 0.75 lengths away in third.
Mazzini’s record now stands at five wins from six starts, with earnings now in excess of $219,000, while Durazzo has 11 wins and two seconds from just 15 starts to his name, with prize-money earnings closing in on $580,000.
The classy duo hail from a family Denise Martin and Brett Howard know well being out of Arenzano (Not A Single Doubt), an eight-time winner for Campbell and Star Thoroughbreds. The daughter of Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice) is also the dam of four-time winner Emily (Wordsmith), who was trained by Campbell for Martin, having been sourced by her and Howard for $42,000 at the 2020 edition of the Tasmanian sale.
Further back this is the same family as Listed scorer Beyonce’s Star (Orientate), the dam of Group 3 winner Oak Door (Commands).
Durazzo was purchased for $97,500 by Star Thoroughbreds and Howard’s Randwick Bloodstock from Armidale Stud’s draft at the 2022 Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale.
At the same sale two years later, Martin and Howard invested in the family once again when they stretched to secure Mazzini for an auction-topping $145,000, a few days before Durazzo made an uninspiring debut at Launceston, a performance he atoned for on his next start when he broke his maiden at the same track the following month.
Armidale Stud managing director David Whishaw will be hoping the pair’s Brutal (O’Reilly) half-sister can bring another good result for the farm when she comes under the hammer as Lot 70 at the 2026 Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale next month.
“I think Brutal’s doing enough as a sire, we loved it as a pedigree matchup,” he told ANZ News. “The mare has now had four horses to run for three winners and two stakes winners, the filly out of the mare, that Star Thoroughbreds also raced was lucky enough to run fourth in a Group 3, Emily, she was a very handy mare as well, so I’d hope the filly will attract plenty of interest, that’s for sure.”
With both Mazzini and Durazzo raised and sold by Armidale and sired by the farm’s resident sire Needs Further, Whishaw described Sunday as a ‘dream’ result.
“We dream of days like that,” he said. “It’s not the first time we’ve bred two stakes winners on the card, but it’s certainly the first time we’ve bred two full brothers as stakes winners on the card.
“It’s lovely to see and I think that both have got really bright futures. Melbourne is on the radar for both of them, which is really exciting, and certainly something Barry Campbell doesn’t look at regularly.
“He’s not a big one for taking horses to Melbourne, but normally when he does, he gets it right, and I think they’re both up to that quality, that’s for sure. Yeah, fantastic.”
Whishaw also paid tribute to Martin and Howard for their ongoing support of the Tasmanian breeding industry.
“Brett and Denise have been a very potent combination since they got together. Nationally, but especially down in Tasmania, their record has been second to none. Denise just surrounds herself with all the right people and Brett’s a wonderful judge of a horse.
“Brett, helped secure us Needs Further and he’s a real man for pedigrees. He does all his homework and he continues to buy good horses. They bought Deroche together, who was a stakes winner by Needs Further that Newgate then bought a broodmare, and now they’ve bought another two Needs Further stakes winners in Durazzo and Mazzini.
“I think we’re blessed to have their support, blessed to have them down in Tassie and they’ve certainly bought two nice horses for these two boys.”
As for Arenzano, she missed in 2024, but was covered by Armidale’s first-season sire Bodyguard (I Am Invincible) last September.
Needs Further stood for an unchanged fee of $5,500 (inc GST) in 2025.