Fifteen years ago, as a teenager, Josh Julius was working for Ciaron Maher and strapped the champion trainer's first Group 1 winner Tears I Cry who was owned by his aunt Anne McGrath.
Now, at 32, he's preparing Just Folk, a horse bred by his grandparents and whose mother is a half-sister to Tears I Cry, out of the Sydney stables of his old boss.
The gelding burst into Doncaster contention when he took out the Group 2 Ajax Stakes (1500m) three weeks ago and, with heavy ground assured at Royal Randwick, Julius is thinking he's in with a realistic shot.
"Heading into a Group 1 like this is not something I'm frequently privy to but it's certainly a big thrill,'' he said.
"For us to draw well and look like being competitive in a race like this I'm pinching myself.
"I'm up staying in Ciaron's stables trying to win my first Group 1. They've been really good, the team at Warwick Farm, and it's made the trip worthwhile."
When Tears I Cry won that Group 1, the 2007 Emirates Stakes, he started 100/1. Just Folk is considered a five times better chance in the Doncaster at $21 with TAB on Tuesday after he drew barrier 10.
The Doncaster wasn't Plan A for Julius for the autumn but a hoof abscess put paid to hopes of an All Star Mile run and he turned his attention to Sydney.
A clever ride from Jason Collett saw the five-year-old topple Ellsberg in the Ajax and earn an exemption into the Doncaster where Dean Holland will ride him at just 50kg.
"We looked at the calendar and saw the Ajax, saw the reward of what it is and when we dived into the profile of the race and where Just Folk was at stuck out to us,'' Julius said.
"It quickly became the race we would target then the reward of the Doncaster.
"(Ellsberg) was a short favourite, had all the runs on the board in Sydney, as a little trainer from Bendigo we were up against it but I felt he was over the odds.
"He brought really good Victorian weight-for-age form. The horses around him Inspirational Girl, I'm Thunderstruck and Sierra Sue they've all went on at their next starts and ran really well.
"We gave it a crack and it's worked out, here we are in the Doncaster living the dream."
Julius elected not to run Just Folk in the Doncaster Prelude preferring to stick with a formula he says works well for the horse and trialled him last Friday at Warwick Farm, running second behind Eduardo.
"The rain held off enough for the trials to go ahead so he had a good blowout,'' he said.
"I'm really happy with how he is, he really appreciates three weeks between runs so he ticks a lot of boxes for us."
