JOSH Julius headed across the road to Bendigo racecourse on Friday with a degree of confidence with his first starter Piscatorial.
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But he would have ventured the short distance home a little later feeling even more upbeat after the grey filly overwhelmed her rivals on a soft five to win the two-year-old fillies maiden plate (1000m).
Piscatorial, ridden by Julius' sister Melissa, was among the last few runners to enter the straight, but gathered plenty of momentum over the final 400m to charge to victory, with the favourite Awkward, from the James Cummings stable, a half of length away in second.
While Julius believed his Zebedee/Gemmas Joy filly had exceeded expectations a little, he did offer plenty of hints of her undoubted ability.
"For us to be able to manage to get a two-year-old winner at home is a pretty big achievement for ourselves ... it's very exciting," he said post-race.
"I probably (wasn't expecting) something as brilliant as that, but she has showed plenty of toe at home.
"She's a sister to four winners that have raced out of the mare. Her last jump-out was really good at home, albeit we didn't ask her to do a lot, she probably exceeded expectations a bit.
"She hasn't had a trip away from home and really hasn't been put under a heap of pressure, but she's taken to that today and coped well.
"She was probably here today realistically for the experience more than anything else.
"But we knew she had her fair share of ability and, if she was going to put it together, she was going to put it together."
While he hopes an ultra-impressive debut can be a launching pad to 'bigger and better things', Julius said Piscatorial was headed for a short freshen up
"We are probably going to tip her into the paddock for a week or so, just to let her have a think about it," he said.
"She's very green and very new to it all, so for her to come out and do that is very good.
"We'll just assess on how she went today to plan the future."
Piscatorial became the stable's first ever two-year-old winner, continuing a great season for the Bendigo trainer, highlighted by his deeds with the exciting stayer Super Girl.
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