The victory by One More Star at Kyneton last Saturday gave Warrnambool’s Melissa Julius her first triumph as a trainer-jockey.
She has only held a dual licence for a few weeks.
One More Star who was having only her second start for Julius, after initially being trained in Adelaide. The mare defeated Just My Lot and Antalian  in a 1450-metre maiden race.
 Julius  was (naturally) thrilled with the result.
 “I have to give a lot of credit to my brother Ben who picked out One More Star from  an on-line digital sale. She came to us in great order but took time to settle down to the new environment,” the new trainer said.
“I thought she would run well at Kyneton. Her first run for me, at Warrnambool, wasn’t too bad as she had no luck in the run.
“She’s really thriving now and enjoying being trained from the paddock at my grand-father’s (Leo Dwyer) Illowa property.  Her attitude has changed — she’s really chilled out now.”
Saturday’s victory took her total number of wins as a jockey to 218.
Diamond mission
Champion trainer Ciaron Maher has his sights set on winning his first Blue Diamond on February 21.
Maher still has six youngsters in contention for the major prize.
“I’d love to win a Diamond,” Maher said this week. 
“It’s the premier two-year-old race on the Victorian calendar and we’ve never had much luck in it. There’s been a few times I’ve thought we might do it but things didn’t go our way. This year’s edition looks very open at this stage.”
Calamari Ring, Unit Five and Ghana’s Akan are among Maher’s contenders.
The past few months have been a busy time for Australia’s leading trainer as he has been inspecting yearlings at studs all over the country.
“We’ve just come off Magic Millions and Karaka in New Zealand and there’s plenty to come,” he said.
“We’ve got Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide sales and, of course, the autumn carnivals.”