SHE might be 'quirky and a bit of a handful' at times, according to jockey Melissa Julius, but there's no doubting the raw ability of Parisian Veil.
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The well-bred Josh Julius-trained filly finally put it all together on the racetrack on Tuesday to break her maiden over the mile at Benalla.
Win number one for the daughter of 2013 Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente out of the mare Prose came at her sixth career start.
Only three of those starts have been for dual Group 2-winning Bendigo trainer Julius.
Her first three, all last year, were for Warrnambool trainer Lindsey Smith and failed to produce a placing.
Signs Parisian Veil was ready to break through emerged at her last start when she finished third second-up at Kilmore over 1460m.
Obviously stripping fitter and up in distance, the three-year-old was nursed along nicely by Melissa Julius just behind the leader Right Hook and skipped clear on the home turn, before she showed her rivals a clean pair of heels in the straight to win by nearly two lengths.
The 30-year-old, who rode Parisian Veil for the first time under race conditions at Kilmore on March 24, insisted the filly had shown steady improvement since the move to Bendigo, in particular between runs.
"(The stable) have done a fantastic job with her, she just keeps getting better and better," Julius said.
"She's bred to get over a bit of a distance and she's been a work in progress.
"She just went to sleep and gave me the most beautiful ride.
"Even with the winkers applied, it just felt when I worked her in them the other day, they just did enough for her to keep her concentrating.
"She's in a really happy place at the minute. She's been quirky and a bit of a handful, but they've found the knack to her."
Julius branded Parisian Veil's lead-up run at Kilmore as 'enormous'.
"It's always a bit of query putting headgear on a horse like her, but she's relaxed and so happy, " she said.
"Even though she was out there (in front) by herself, she was happy to gallop to the line and keep going.
"There are really good signs that she will probably get out over more ground."
Parisian Veil's win came exactly one month after Josh Julius' success in the $200,000 Group 2 Ajax Stakes (1500m) in Sydney with his stable star Just Folk.
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