Daisy Circuit
Within the first few turns, there will be a corridor with stairs in it. unless your offroad is horrible and you don't have a mushroom, take it, and you can get a nice trick, plus an item box off of the jump.
Koopa Cape
There are three jumps at the beginning for a boost, also a few goombas here and there which you should avoid. Stay to the water as much as you can in the middle. When you are in the tube avoid the lighting and stay on the water. At the very end avoid the water on the inner side unless you have a golden mushroom and use it for that section. don't forget to take advantage of the halfpipe jumps scattered around the track.
Maple Treeway
There are ample opportunities for tricks on this map. take them. hitting the small leaf piles will usually cause a mushroom or banana peel to fly out, and won't slow you down at all. take advantage of the mushroom ones, and use the banana ones to set traps for your enemies. midway through the track, there will be a wide-open area with two wrigglers. they can be very annoying, so avoid them if you can. shortly after that, there is a netlike part of the track with a wavy surface. shake the wiimote constantly to rack up trick boosts. just after that, make a hard left or right and aim for the area between the fence and the trees. you can get two boosts, an item block, and a trick jump for your efforts. if you miss, do tricks off the tree roots instead.
Grumble Volcano
The hardest Star Cup Course and parts of the track fall away after the first lap. Beware to the lava fireballs!