WARRNAMBOOL apprentice jockey Melissa Julius rode her first winner at her 15th race ride when she booted home the Deanne Taylor-trained Real Finniss to win a maiden plate at Terang.
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Julius, who started her career riding at Penshurst on Boxing Day last year, was excited following the win of Real Finniss over Goldie's Fortune and Easy As Pye on Thursday.
“It's just a relief to ride my first winner,” she said.
“Real Finniss does not settle in his races.
“I was a bit worried when I was so far in front at the 200-metres mark, but he held on to score a good victory.”
Taylor switched Real Finniss back to a 1406-metre race on Thursday after the five-year-old failed with Julius in the saddle last time in maiden company over 1700 metres at Warrnambool.
Following the Warrnambool failure, Stewards reported Real Finniss over-raced early and in the middle stages of the race. He also hung out in the middle stages.
The young hoop, who began working for Shayne Fisher and is apprenticed to Warrnambool trainer Symon Wilde, said she knew Real Finniss would run out a strong 1406 metres.
“Real Finniss is a good trier,” Julius said.
“I've got to thank Deanne for showing the confidence to put me on Real Finniss and the other trainers that I've ridden for since my career started on Boxing Day.
“My boss Symon Wilde has also been great. I started off not knowing anything about riding in races, but Symon has shown a lot of confidence in me.”
Julius just failed to score a winning double as she ran second on the Wilde-trained King Mapoora in the race after the win of Real Finniss.
Meanwhile, Terang trainer John Barry teamed with apprentice jockey Chelsea Hall to score a long-shot double on the eight-race program.
Hall rode bargain buys Chat To Maggie and Peg Leg Ben for the Barry stable to victory.
Chat To Maggie – who paid $12.50 for a win on the TAB – was a $500 purchase, while Peg Leg Ben cost $300.
Lucky punters who backed him got $55.40 for their investment.
Barry's stable representative – his son Jamie – said it was a wonderful day for the stable.
“We've had a couple of doubles over the last few years,” Jamie said.
“We've had one at Terang before and one at Mortlake.
“It's great to get a double on our home track.
“There's another couple of meetings at Terang over the next few weeks.
“It's our lucky track.
“We thought Chat To Maggie was our best hope.
“It's great to get a double with two bargain buys."
The wins of Chat To Maggie and Peg Leg Ben injected plenty of money into the quadrella which paid more than $76,400 on the numbers 8,4,7 and 12.
I started off not knowing anything about riding in races but Symon (Wilde) has shown a lot of confidence in me.
- Melissa Julius
