Tasracing

First starter Sanniya caused an upset bringing to an end the unbeaten run of hot favourite Zany Girl in the $85,000 Magic Millions 2yo Classic in Launceston on Sunday.

Despite a couple of impressive trial efforts, Sanniya was a marked drifter in the betting starting at $15 after opening at $8.

Champion jockey Craig Newitt bounced the  Stratosphere x Lady Writer filly straight to the front and, when challenged by the favourite, gave a strong kick.

Trainer Barry Campbell says he knew he had a smart horse on his hands from day one.

“She had two trials and wasn’t knocked around in either of them; we actually came here pretty confident, and when she jumped to a lead, I thought she would be hard to beat,” Campbell said.

“It’s a nice race to target from the sales, and this was her target race from day one, so the plan came together.

“She goes good; she’s probably not our best 2yo either, so we should have a bit of fun this year,” Campbell predicted.

Depending on how she pulls up, Sanniya will either press on to the $150,000 Gold Sovereign Stakes (1200m) on Launceston Cup Day or go to the paddock.

Sanniya was purchased for $67,500 at the 2024 Tasmanian Magic Million sales.

Runner-up Zany Girl ($1.35) was a little slow to begin and was no match for the winner, who dashed home her last 600m 34.18 seconds; Taroona ($15) finished third and earned her connections a $10,000 bonus for being the first all-female owned horse home.

Campbell made it a feature race double for connections (Star Thoroughbreds) when exciting 4yo Durazzo ($1.35) made a one-act affair of the $75,000 Magic Millions 3yo & 4yo Classic (1400m), scoring in effortless style.

Durazzo (K.Sanderson) wins the Magic Millions 3&4YO Classic.

A winner of seven of his nine race starts, Durazzo is now likely to face his toughest test, taking on The Inevitable in next Sunday’s Listed $150,000 Thomas Lyons Stakes at WFA over 1400m in Hobart.

“I’m not looking forward to running into The Inevitable; if he pulls up well, he will head there, but he won’t run if he’s not right,” Campbell said.

“All goes well during the week he will definitely run; he’ll have a couple of days at the beach, the chiropractor will go over him, tick all the boxes and see how we go.”

Durazzo was taken straight to the front by rider Kelvin Sanderson, who dictated the tempo, and when he allowed Durazzo to stride around the turn, the result was beyond doubt, with the favourite racing away to score by four lengths.

“Stepping out to 1400m for the first time, he got to the front and relaxed really well for me; he basically ran his own race, he let me know when they were coming to him, he picked the bit up, and I was just along for the ride really,” Sanderson said

“They came to me before the home turn but once he balanced up, gave him a tap down the shoulder, it was nice.”

The win took Durazzo’s stale earnings to more than $225,000.

Perola ($6), after bungling the start, ran second with Stardamus ($8.50), finishing third.

Asva Cup bound

Trainer Glenn Stevenson will leave it up to the owners to decide if they press on to the Launceston Cup with Asva after he won his way into the race with an impressive effort in the $50,000 Art Hotel Sydeston Cup (2100m).

Asva (C.Newitt) wins the 2025 Sydeston Cup.

Asva ($8.50) found the rails midfield from a wide draw and always travelled well for Craig Newitt who made it three wins for the day.

“The horse deserves that; he’s been pretty good his last two runs, ‘Frog’ got right onto me about riding, and I had to give Erica (Byrne Burke) the sack,” Stevenson said.

“We always thought he would get 2100m; I think the horse will get 2400 (metres), its had a fair sort of prep; we are under no illusion how hard these Cups are going to be, so I will leave it to the ownership group to see what they want to do.”

One option is to back up in the $250,000 Hobart Cup (2400m) next Sunday or head to Launceston (ballot-free) at the end of the month.

“He gave me a beautiful ride, we found the fence going past the post the first time, and he switched off and just idled for the first 1600m of the race, down past the 500 I had too many options, I didn’t know whether to go out or go in, he just kept taking the runs when they presented and it was a pretty soft win in the end,” Newitt said after dismounting.

Budding ($10) and Distrustful Award ($14) both finished well to run second and third, respectively, and keep alive their Cups chances.

Asva’s win completed a double for Stevenson and a treble for Newitt.