Australian racing enthusiasts are accustomed to seeing Damian Lane ride international runners in major Spring Carnival events, but he has switched his allegiance for this Saturday’s Caulfield Cup.
The accomplished jockey will partner with the English stayer Wine Dark Sea in the 150th iteration of the Group 1 handicap, which this year offers $6 million in prize money.
Lane is aiming for his second victory in the 2400-metre handicap, having previously won aboard the Japanese entire Mer De Glace in 2019.
He also secured the Cox Plate in the same year with another Japanese visitor, Lys Gracieux, and has frequently ridden horses from Japan in the major spring features.
Saturday will mark the first time he rides a UK-trained galloper in the Caulfield Cup, and he is eager to team up with the Harry Charlton-prepared son of Ulysses.
“He’s very much probably what we’re used to seeing from the English horses in terms of he can get up on speed and he can sustain a good run from a long way out,” Lane commented. “That’s indicative of what we’ve seen in the English horses that come out here over the years and hopefully that’s the case with him.”
The Caulfield Cup will be Wine Dark Sea’s 11th career start. The Northern Hemisphere four-year-old comes into the race following a strong 1-1/2-length win in the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes (2671m) at Newbury on August 15.
That performance was Wine Dark Sea’s first taste of Stakes racing and represented his third win from four starts in 2026.
Lane visited the gelding at Werribee last Thursday for his initial feel, having arrived in Australia late last month, and was pleased with the experience.
“First impressions were good,” Lane said. “He’s a very sensible horse, he seems to have settled in well, he moved well, he finished the work off well and there was nothing really negative to report.”
Wine Dark Sea is currently the $7 second favourite in Caulfield Cup betting, behind only the dominant Turnbull Stakes winner Cosmic Crusader ($4.50), whose entry was confirmed last week.
“Cosmic Crusader was not very welcome news, I would prefer he’s not there,” Lane admitted. “But I did think the race lacked a little bit of depth this year and it would be a good chance for someone like a Wine Dark Sea.”
Lane also has the first right of refusal for Wine Dark Sea in this year’s Melbourne Cup, though a definitive decision will be made after this weekend’s race.
Wine Dark Sea is allocated 54.5kg for the Caulfield Cup, with the final field to be finalised on Tuesday morning, and will carry 56kg in the Melbourne Cup.
This could be Lane’s final Spring Carnival as a Melbourne-based jockey, as he pursues his goal of becoming licensed in Japan, a country where he has ridden on short-term contracts for the past few years.
The Western Australian hoop announced last week that he successfully passed the initial stage of the application process, with another examination set for January.
“Riding in Japan on a more permanent basis has been an ambition of mine for some time,” Lane stated in a released statement. “While the chance of receiving a JRA licence is exciting, my immediate focus is on Australian racing and achieving the best possible results this spring carnival.”
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