Leading Melbourne trainer Danny O'Brien will resist the $2 million temptation of the BMW Magic Millions 2YO Classic with Star Witness, an impressive debut winner of the Tatts Group Plate at Moonee Valley this afternoon.

O'Brien was thrilled with the performance of the colt who notched a milestone for former outstanding globetrotting stallion Starcraft - his first local winner.

"He's still very very new," O'Brien said of Star Witness. "He'd only come into the race today with one trial."

"Barrier one can be a bit awkward from the 1000 here. I was a bit worried there for a while - but Nick (Hall) was able to extricate him and he lengthened really nicely."

O'Brien thinks the race will stand up as one of the better early form race for juveniles for the season.

"I think there was enough word out about the others that it was quite a nice little race."

"There might be a few nice two-year-olds in that race," he added.

Star Witness ($3-$3.70) bobbed at the right time to beat the home bred Fastnet Rock youngster Flokkati ($4-$4.60-$3.10 fav) by a short half head.

Another half neck back in third place was Josimar ($11-$15).

A protest fired in by the rider of the third placegetters against the winner was quickly dismissed by stewards.

Star Witness is the first Australian winner for his sire, Starcraft.

An Arrowfield Stud based sire by Soviet Star, Starcraft is won 11 races during an illustrious career at distances from 1400 to 2400 metres.

His biggest successes included an AJC Australian Derby and Chipping Norton Stakes.

While the win of Star Witness was his first with an Australian bred - Starcraft is already a proven stakes producing sire.

He has two stakes gallopers north of the equator including Don't Tell Mary - winner of the listed Hilary Needler Trophy at Beverley.

Star Witness is the first named foal of the former smart Danny O'Brien trained mare Leone Chiara, a daughter of Lion Hunter who won seven races to 1100 metres.

She won the Group Three RN Irwin Stakes and listed WH Wylie Handicap - both run in Adelaide.

As well as being a group winner, Leone Chiara is superbly bred. She is a sister to two group winners - Ferocity and Chinchilla Rose.

Ferocity won the Group Two Ascot Vale Stakes and Magic Millions Adelaide 2YO Classic before retiring to Oaklands Stud in Queensland.

And their other full relation, the glamour sprinting mare Chinchilla Rose starred for Steele Ryan with four group wins and earnings of almost $600,000.

Leone Chiara, a prized resident of the Turner family's Alma Vale property in Queensland, has a yearling filly by Elusive Quality heading to January's 2010 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

"She's a very neat filly," Ken Turner said. "She is typical of the family."

"The family has often been on the small side, particularly as yearlings and this filly is a bit of a later foal," he added.

Magic Millions Media Release Published 28/11/09