Star Thoroughbreds hit a purple patch in Tasmania

Star Thoroughbreds’ purple and white star silks have been carried to victory in some of Australia’s biggest races, but as a born and bred Taswegian it gave the company’s founder Denise Martin a particular thrill to achieve a notable Magic Millions double at Launceston on Sunday.
A four-length romp in the 3YO/4YO Tasmanian Classic (1400m) by Durazzo (Needs Further), who is lucky to be racing at all after an extended injury lay-off early in his career, set the seal on a very satisfactory day after his stablemate Sanniya (Stratosphere) had ended the unbeaten run of hot favourite Zany Girl (Needs Further) on debut in the 2YO equivalent over 1200 metres.
Sanniya, whose sire Stratosphere (Snitzel) produced Singapore stakes winner Greatham Boy in his first crop, will now be set on a path towards the Gold Sovereign Stakes (Listed, 1200m) at the end of the month by her trainer Barry Campbell, who is also Martin’s brother-in-law.
Since Durazzo’s lengthy rehabilitation from an operation following a mishap at the trials, Campbell has guided the four-year-old to seven wins from nine starts and his stable star will now face the biggest test of his career to date when he goes up against Tasmania’s pint-sized champ The Inevitable (Dundeel) in this Sunday’s Thomas Lyons Stakes (Listed, 1400m) at Hobart.
Both Durazzo and Sanniya were purchased by Martin in tandem with Randwick Bloodstock supremo Brett Howard, whose astute eye has been a key contributor to the extraordinary success Star Thoroughbreds has enjoyed over the past decade.
The likes of Espiona (Extreme Choice) and Invincibella (I Am Invincible), who won more than $6 million between them on the racetrack before joining the elite broodmare bands at Yulong and Coolmore respectively, were both purchased by Martin on the advice of Howard.
Their potent partnership appears to have uncovered more equine gold with Sanniya and Durazzo having already amassed more than $280,000 between them, having cost a combined $165,000 at the Tasmanian Magic Millions Yearling Sale.
“We only buy one or two horses from the Tasmanian sales each year, and these two have proved to be exceptionally good buys,” Martin told ANZ Bloodstock Media.
I have to give a lot of the credit to Brett [Howard], I’ve now worked with him for seven or eight years and some of the results have been spectacular
“I have to give a lot of the credit to Brett [Howard], I’ve now worked with him for seven or eight years and some of the results have been spectacular.
“He helped find us some superstar mares such as Espiona and Invincibella, and he was also behind our purchase of Deroche who won the Tasmanian Newmarket before being bought by Newgate Farm at the Magic Millions Broodmare Sale. Brett is a master of sourcing good quality yearlings at affordable prices, so we’re very lucky to be able to tap into his skillset.”
If Durazzo’s success was expected as the $1.35 favourite, the win of Sanniya was perhaps somewhat of a surprise given that Zany Girl had jumped at the same prohibitive price after blazing a trail through the Apple Isle’s juvenile ranks this season.
But Craig Newitt rode a characteristically positive race from the outset and even though Zany Girl loomed up with her challenge in the straight, there was to be no denying Sanniya as she kicked clear in the closing stages to win by 0.8 lengths – much to the delight of an ownership group which includes Tasmania’s Premier Jeremy Rockliff.
“The Gold Sovereign would now be the natural progression for Sanniya after the impressive win,” said Martin who first entered the world of racehorse syndication after a chance encounter with Gai Waterhouse in the early 1990s, when she was working at a Melbourne hotel.
“Even though she [Sanniya] was up against an unbeaten filly, I did think she had a good chance of winning the race. It’s very difficult to keep two-year-olds in work for an extended period of time, I know Zany Girl has been winning very impressively and was clearly the benchmark but she’s been up since the late spring, whereas our filly was the fresh horse on the scene. We’ve always had a high opinion of her, she’s just kept improving but Barry [Campbell] was keen not to push her too soon so the plan was always to debut her in the Magic Millions race.
“In all honesty I probably would have been happy to run second to Zany Girl, but in the end our filly was dominant. She was full of running the whole way, Craig said he was very impressed with the way Sanniya accelerated when the favourite challenged her. I’ve known and used Craig a lot in the past, he reads races particularly well and I thought he rode a brilliant race on her.”
Newitt was also on board when Durazzo recently defeated Victorian raider Beast Mode (Better Than Ready) in the $109,000 Carpet Charge (1009m), but local jockey Kelvin Sanderson has been the pilot for most of his wins.
Sanderson was also on board that fateful day at the Longford trials in January 2023, when Durazzo got loose and ended up with a broken bone in his hind leg. At that point his racing future was under a distinctly dark cloud, but after making an impressive return to the Longford trials almost exactly one year later, he hasn’t looked back.
To have been off the scene for over a year and to have reached his current level is quite remarkable really
“To have been off the scene for over a year and to have reached his current level is quite remarkable really,” said Martin.
“He won his first barrier trial but then jumped a crossing, and after he came back in it was pretty obvious that he had a major issue. He went for surgery almost straight away, some horses don’t recover from an injury like that so in the early days we certainly thought his racing career was in real doubt.
“I was there for his first start of his preparation in Tassie last September, and although he won convincingly that day I certainly didn’t think we would potentially be heading into the Thomas Lyons, which is probably the state’s premier weight-for-age race, as one of the leading chances just five months later. It would be very special to go up against a horse like The Inevitable, who has been a flagbearer for Tasmanian racing for a number of years now.
“We will see how Durazzo progresses this week before committing to the race, but he seems to have come through the run well so provided there are no issues before Sunday, I would say he will take his place. He’s had seven starts this prep and won six of them, so he’s more than done his job already. Judging by Sunday’s performance, I wouldn’t say he’s come to the end of his prep just yet, but we would probably look to give him a good spell after Sunday’s race.
“If he could win the Thomas Lyons, then we would have to give serious consideration to bringing him over to the mainland during the spring. We would love to win the Newmarket in Tassie with him in November, but it’s certainly a real possibility that we could look to give him a couple of starts in Melbourne either before or after the Newmarket. He’s a real talent, and when he hears other horses coming he soon quickens because he’s got that will to win.”
Durazzo’s winning streak has given Martin extra satisfaction given that she also raced his mother, Arenzano (Not A Single Doubt). After she was retired from the racetrack with a very creditable record of eight wins and four minor placings from 19 starts, Arenzano was purchased as a broodmare prospect by Armidale Stud, run by the Whishaw family.
A date was subsequently set with their resident stallion Needs Further (Encosta De Lago), the resulting foal caught the eagle eyes of Howard and Martin at the 2022 Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale – and the rest, as they say, is history.
“Arenzano was a talented horse and after she was purchased from us by Armidale, I was keen to follow her progress as a broodmare,” said Martin.
“Durazzo was her second foal, and he’s an absolute beauty so it’s lovely to see her producing such good horses early in her career. Needs Further also continues to do tremendously well at stud, obviously Mystic Journey put his name on the map but he has been producing some very good horses for a number of years now, and all from a very modest service fee.
“He also sired Deroche, who we had a lot of fun with. She [Arenzano] has produced a colt by Stay Inside who will go through the ring at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, so we’ll certainly be taking a close look at him when we head to Melbourne next month.”