Flemington specialist Damian Lane will be looking to continue his dominant record at the track as punters prepare for a spring carnival fill-up, comprising of four days of racing at headquarters in one week. Lane has more wins than any other jockey at Flemington in the last 12 months and was a shining light this time last year, acting as a walking ATM for the spring carnival punters.
Lane was perhaps the most prolific jockey of the carnival in 2017 with a phenomenal record over the straight trips in particular, getting the party started on Lyuba ($7) when he won the Skip Sprint over 1100m on Derby Day. He then ran 3rd in the Group 1 Victoria Derby on Astoria before recording wins on Another Coldie ($7), Moher ($10) and Tosen Stardom ($6.50) over the four race days.
While punters generally struggle with a love-hate relationship with straight races at Flemington, Lane had no such issue across the four-day punt-a-palooza, in fact placing in 6 of 9 goes between 1000 and 1200m including a minor placing on long-shot Smart Coupe.
24-year-old Lane has now had 19 wins at Flemington in the last year, with an impressive strike rate of 18.4% from just over 100 starts. The track has been a happy hunting ground for 13-time Group 1 winner Lane, with headquarters being his highest-earning track to date since his career began in 2009.
As well as young-gun Damien Lane, the legendary J-Mac and true professional Hugh Bowman have made flying starts to the season also, and have both secured rides in Saturday’s Victoria Derby. The big week at Flemington kicks off with Victoria Derby Day on Saturday, backed up by Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday, Oaks Day on Thursday before the Mackinnon Stakes on the following Saturday.
