FORMER star West Australian apprentice Damian Lane who is now indentured to Caulfield trainer partnership of Matthew Ellerton and Simon Zahra has been booked to ride Turbo Qui in the Goodwood handicap at Tattersall’s Park in Hobart on Sunday.
Lane has been in good form in Victoria and answered the call from Campania trainer Michael Voss to take the sit on the sprinter with the hope of winning the 1100-metre dash and so be exempt from ballot for the state’s most prestigious sprint the Newmarket Handicap to be run in Launceston over 1200 metres on November 21.
Lane partnered Turbo Qui into third place in Launceston earlier this year and he again finished third aboard the gelded son of Matsqui at Caulfield in late June in a 1000-metre race won by God’s Window.
The Newmarket has been traditionally a hard race to get into for class six horses with so many well-performed weight-for-age performers being aimed at starting their campaigns in the quality handicap that has a ceiling weight of 60kg with a minimum of 54kg.
The weight scale makes if had to horses that have yet made it to open company or just arrived at that level.
Last season’s Tasmanian horse of the year Geegees Blackflash will start his season off in the Newmarket as will last season’s Devonport Cup winner Dream Flyer.