An emotional Shae Dinunzio welcomed back Shystar the winner of a rich restricted race at Ballarat having learned earlier in the day of the passing of his first boss.

Dinunzio started his career in racing under the guidance of Group 1 winning trainer Paul Beshara, who died on Saturday, in Adelaide before moving to Victoria to become an assistant trainer with Phillip Stokes at Pakenham.

Beshara’s best horse was Happy Trails who was a three-time Group 1 winner, all at Flemington.

Representing the Stokes stable at Ballarat on Saturday, Dinunzio welcomed Shystar back to the winner’s enclosure having been successful in the $250,000 Sportsbet Emerging Stars (1400m).

“It’s been a bit of a tough day,” Dinunzio said.

“We lost Paul Beshara today and our thoughts go out to Collette and the family.

“He was a great man to me. He got me into racing and was my first boss and I reckon he might have willed that over the line in the last 50 (metres).”

Sent to the lead under Lachlan Neindorf, Shystar ($3.10) held off the $3 bookies favourite Royal Flare to score by a short-head with Golden Spritz ($17) a neck away third.

Dinunzio said Stokes had picked out the Emerging Stars Series for Shystar when the filly came back into work after completing her two-year-old season in the middle of the year.

“We picked out one of the heats at Geelong and she won well there,” Dinunzio said.

“She’s a promising filly but the question mark was the soft track and probably 1400 metres.

“It’s probably not her sweet spot, 1200 metres probably is, but it was the perfect race for her, very suitable.”

Dinunzio said there were no lofty plans for Shystar as this stage of her career.

“We’ll just go through our grades but she’s probably a Stakes grade Adelaide filly in the autumn, so we’ve just got to plot a path to get there,” he said.