Damian Lane To Ride Japanese Raider In Melbourne Cup

Lane’s Japan Connection

Damian Lane rides Treasurethe Moment at Caulfield on Saturday knowing he has a busy schedule of international travel beyond that, taking in Japan’s autumn majors and big Spring Carnival assignments in Australia including Japan’s Chevalier Rose in the G1 Melbourne Cup on November 4.

That all means plenty of air miles for the man who is currently third in the Melbourne jockey premiership and is operating at a 26.6 percent win strike rate in Japan this year.

Lane will head to Japan for the weekend of November 1 and 2 then return immediately to Melbourne for ‘Cup week’, including that pick-up on Carrot Club’s Chevalier Rose in the big one. He will fly back to ride in Japan through the rest of the month, departing after the G1 Japan Cup on November 30, by which time he aims to have locked in rides at the Group 1 Hong Kong International Races during the second week in December.

“I’ll ride Tenno Sho weekend and then come back to Australia and ride the rest of Melbourne Cup week – Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday – including Chevalier Rose in the Melbourne Cup,” Lane told Idol Horse.

Before all of that, though, Lane is focused on the task of winning the G1 Might And Power Stakes with Treasurethe Moment, his likely G1 Cox Plate ride. The filly opened her season with a 1400m victory in the G1 Memsie Stakes for Lane before running second last time in the G2 Feehan Stakes at a mile, when a lengthy whip ban for Lane meant Mark Zahra was in the saddle. The step up to 2000m on Saturday will be right up her alley.

“She is exciting; she is going great,” Lane said. “She had a set-back mid-prep but she seems to have got over that and looks well-placed this weekend.

“I am committed to Treasurethe Moment so unless something unforeseen happens, she is who I will ride in the Cox Plate. I think she is the best 2000m horse (available to me) and we will see how things go on the weekend, but I think Saturday is going to be a good test to see how she has come through. After Saturday we will know more.

“All going well, Treasurethe Moment will back up into the Champions Stakes on the final Saturday of Flemington.”  

The Matt Laurie-trained filly is one of only five runners in the Might And Power Stakes and that suits Lane.

“I think the less horses to beat, the better,” he said.

It’ll be a different scenario come the Melbourne Cup when 24 runners could go to post for the two-mile handicap that ‘stops a nation.’ Delta Blues in 2006 is the only Japanese-trained winner and Lane is seeking his first success.

“Chevalier Rose’s staying form is very good: his 3000-metre-plus form is especially strong, but his best runs are on dry tracks, so hopefully we get that. You never know with Melbourne weather. 

“When he has been at his best, he is good enough to compete in a Melbourne Cup but the worry is that he is inconsistent and his last two runs have been below his best.

“It is mainly a mystery with him – maybe some chop in the ground those few times he ran poorly and some conditions that might not have suited him, but there is not much on face value in the way he was ridden that could give us a clue.”

Meanwhile, Lane is expected to ride one of Chris Waller’s candidates to take on Ka Ying Rising in The Everest at Randwick on October 18. 

Aga Khan Studs’ Dewhurst Breakthrough?

Daryz’s Prix d l’Arc de Triomphe win last weekend was a poignant victory for the Aga Khan Studs – one of the sport’s longest-running success stories – given that Prince Karim, Aga Khan IV passed away in February after decades as a prominent owner-breeder and a regular in the Longchamp winner’s circle.   

But, for all his success around the world, one race the late Aga Khan’s horses never won during his time at the helm is the G1 Dewhurst Stakes, Britain’s top contest for juvenile colts.

His father, Prince Aly Khan, won the race in 1936 with Sultan Mohamed, and his grandfather, Aga Khan III, saw his silks carried to Dewhurst victory eight times between 1923 and 1946.

Despite that history, the late Aga Khan barely had a runner in the Dewhurst – his last was Zayyani in 1988 – yet this Saturday at Newmarket the Aga Khan Stud’s breeding legacy will be on show in that race via a bargain buy running for Mick and Janice Mariscotti.

Zavateri was bought for only 35,000 guineas and enters the Dewhurst unbeaten in four starts. Last time he defeated the reopposing Gstaad to win the G1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes, Ireland’s Dewhurst equivalent, if you like.

Zavateri’s purchase price belies his impressive genetic roots, though. His mother Zeroua was bred by the Aga Khan. Not only that, the mare is a granddaughter of his exceptional filly Zarkava, an unbeaten champion at two and three in France and winner of the 2008 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in the Aga Khan silks before joining the famous breeding programme. 

Horse Racing History

On October 6, 1979 the North American champions Affirmed and Spectacular Bid met for the only time, in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Affirmed won by three quarters of a length and became the first horse to earn US$1 million in prize money.

Hong Kong got a second race track on October 7 1978 when Sha Tin racecourse, built on reclaimed land, opened for action. The track has become one of the world’s top venues and hosts the Hong Kong International Races every December. Sha Tin means Sandy Fields and historically the Sha Tin valley (now completely urban) produced rice the quality of which was at one time deemed fit only for consumption at the Imperial Court.

The G1 Might And Power Stakes was known as the Caulfield Stakes until 2021. Might And Power himself won the race in 1998, bouncing back from two defeats. The great champion duelled with Tycoon Lil down the home straight before exerting his superiority impressively. Might And Power went on to win the Cox Plate, becoming only the second horse to win the Caulfield Cup, Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate.
  
The 1990 Dewhurst Stakes showed that a shock result can prove to be the right result. Generous was sent off at odds of 50/1 at the end of a muddled juvenile campaign. The eye-catching chestnut with the flaxen mane and tail battled through the murk and the wet ground to defy Bog Trotter in a tight finish. Roll forward to the following summer and the brilliant galloper won the Derby, Irish Derby and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in stunning style, establishing his place in history as one of the best three-year-old colts of the post-war era.

Jockey Doug Smith won the historic and hugely competitive Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket for the sixth time this week in 1966 aboard Persian Lancer. The 49-year-old had notched his first victory in the two and a quarter-mile race on Canatrice in 1939 and he remains the most successful rider in the race’s 186-year history. 

Idol Horse Reads Of The Week

On the eve of the annual International Conference of Horseracing Authorities, Idol Horse editor Michael Cox shared Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges’ experience many years ago when he stumbled by chance upon an illegal bookmaking operation in Kowloon, and relayed the significant threat now to the sport of illegal bookmaking and the role cryptocurrency is playing, particularly among younger bettors. 

Michael Cox

The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Battle With Illegal Betting

Adam Pengilly was on the scene at Randwick this week to see Ka Ying Rising run in a barrier trial ahead of The Everest in front of about 1,000 spectators, proving that even the hard to lure Sydney crowd felt the pull of Hong Kong’s star sprinter. 

Adam Pengilly

Sydney Shows Up For Practice As Ka Ying Rising Readies For The Everest

Idol Horse sat down with Racing Victoria chief executive Aaron Morrison who talked about racing’s ‘tipping point’, power plays with Peter V’landys, and Australia’s mega stables.

Adam Pengilly

Mini Mutiny To Melbourne Cup: Morrison Lifts Lid On Racing’s Tipping Point 

Racing Photo Of The Week

Date
8 October, 2025

Photographer
@s1nihs

Location
Oi Racecourse

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Won last year by superstar Forever Young, the Jpn1 Japan Dirt Classic was the final leg of Japan’s Dirt Triple Crown and Narukami’s win under Keita Tosaki foiled the Triple Crown bid of the Haneda Hai and Japan Dirt Derby winner Natural Rise, as that headstrong colt had to settle for second.

Global Blackbook

There is danger in flagging up a twice-raced maiden winner, but there was enough to like about Lyneham and his background at Newmarket last Saturday.

Lyneham is trained by Classic-winning handler Ralph Beckett, runs under the ownership of two of European racing’s most prominent players, Al Shaqab Racing and AMO Racing, and was bought for 425,000 guineas out of Book 1 at Tattersalls a year ago.

The colt is by the stallion of the moment, the recently deceased Wootton Bassett, out of a Coolmore mare with a very modest race record but a top-class pedigree being a sister to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Found out of the top-class Red Evie.

His debut second at Doncaster, beaten a head, was smart, and Lyneham showed that he had progressed when he made most of the running on the Rowley Mile, responded well to pressure, albeit displaying greenness, and won by a length with the field strung out. He could emerge as a classy middle-distance prospect next spring. 
Not to be confused with another promising Wootton Basset two-year-old also called Lyneham, winner of a maiden in France last month and a half-brother to the French 1,000 Guineas runner-up Lindy. 

World Horse Racing Calendar: What’s Coming Up

🇦🇺 Might And Power Day
11 October
G1 Might And Power Stakes

Seven races, including three Group 1 features, will be taken for World Pool betting from Caulfield on Saturday. This includes one of Australia’s most important three-year-old races, the G1 Caulfield Guineas, which features Chris Waller-trained pair Autumn Boy and Wodeton. Last season’s Group 1 winners Vinrock and Nepotism are also entered and a capacity field of 16 is expected. The G1 Might And Power Stakes has just five runners (soon to be four, with the Maher stable indicating Light Infantry Man will stay in Sydney for the Hill Stakes), led by G1 Cox Plate contenders Treasurethe Moment and Buckaroo, while the G1 Toorak Handicap at a mile sees Sepals aiming to become the first to complete the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes and Toorak Handicap double since Trust In A Gust in 2014.

🇬🇧 Dewhurst Stakes Day
11 October
G1 Dewhurst Stakes

The two-year-olds will shine at Newmarket on Saturday across three stakes races: the G1 Dewhurst Stakes, the G3 Autumn Stakes and the G3 Zetland Stakes. Last start G3 Tattersalls Stakes winner Distant Storm meets G1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes one-two Zavateri and Gstaad in a competitive Dewhurst that will likely determine 2000 Guineas favouritism over the winter. The Zetland offers a first opportunity for potential stayers to step out over 10 furlongs at stakes level and Endorsement will aim to become the first Ballydoyle winner since future St Leger hero Kew Gardens and Irish Derby placegetter Norway won in 2017 and 2018.

🇦🇺 The Everest Day
18 October
G1 The Everest (IHFA-rated equal 29th), G1 King Charles III Stakes (rated equal 59th)

The barrier trial of Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising attracted plenty of attention and, as the field is finalised for the world’s richest turf race – the A$20 million The Everest – talk turns to how the race will play out. Only one slotholder is yet to choose their runner: Yulong, whose initial selection Private Harry has been sidelined. The undercard will feature the G1 King Charles III Stakes over a mile and likely runners include Pride of Jenni, Mr Brightside, Fangirl and last year’s Golden Eagle winner Lake Forest.

🇦🇺 Caulfield Cup Day
18 October
G1 Caulfield Cup

Buckaroo is the most important runner this weekend from a Caulfield Cup perspective; last year’s runner-up is likely to miss the race and instead head to the Cox Plate, but if he shows he is looking for a mile and a half, managing owner Ozzie Kheir has suggested a potential switch is possible. Half Yours confirmed favouritism with a closing fourth behind Sir Delius in the G1 Turnbull Stakes last weekend. Four horses – Brayden Star, Plymouth, Post Impressionist, Young Werther – will attempt to earn automatic entry into next weekend’s Caulfield Cup by winning the G2 Herbert Power Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.

🇬🇧 British Champions Day
18 October
G1 Champion Stakes (IHFA-rated equal 16th), G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (rated equal 29th)

There’s a feast of top-class action at Ascot with five Group 1 races, headed by the G1 Champion Stakes. That contest could feature an exciting rematch between stud-bound Irish Champion Stakes and Eclipse Stakes winner Delacroix and his Juddmonte International Stakes conqueror Ombudsman, while Calandagan is likely to return to 10 furlongs too. If Delacroix misses the Champion Stakes, he could instead return to a mile in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes where he would face another top three-year-old, Field Of Gold.

🇧🇷 Gran Premio Latinoamericano Day
18 October
G1 Gran Premio Latinoamericano

South America’s championship race, the G1 Gran Premio Latinoamericano, returns to Brazil and to Gavea for the first time since 2016. The 16 runners have already been confirmed and will feature two Argentineans, three Chileans, six Peruvians and a Uruguayan to tackle four Brazilians. Joao Moreira will return from Japan to continue his association with Sao Paulo hero Obataye.

🇦🇺 Cox Plate Day
25 October
G1 Cox Plate (IHFA-rated equal 10th)

A bittersweet day as Moonee Valley, which has hosted racing around its tight circuit since 1883, stages its final meeting in its current configuration. As soon as its most famous race, the G1 Cox Plate, is held for the 104th year, the track will close and the course reconfigured with the grandstand moved to the current 800m mark. The milestone Cox Plate will be headlined by Via Sistina, who is aiming to become the 14th horse to win the race on multiple occasions, and last weekend’s G1 Turnbull Stakes winner Sir Delius. Saturday’s G1 Might and Power Stakes will be the final lead-up run for Treasurethe Moment and possibly Buckaroo. ∎