Damian Lane will be free to ride on Magic Millions day
Damian Lane will be free to ride at the Gold Coast’s rich Magic Millions raceday despite incurring a careless riding ban at Werribee.
Lane was suspended for seven meetings on Thursday and will begin the ban after racing at Caulfield on Saturday and will return the following Saturday at the feature Gold Coast meeting.
Lane gained a release from his two rides at Mornington on Sunday in order to be back on Saturday week.
He is booked to ride the Gerald Ryan-trained Pipeline in the Magic Millions 3YO Guineas.
Apprentice Mitchell Aitken, meanwhile, is set to spend 25 meetings on the sidelines as a result of three careless riding charges in the space of four days.
Aitken was banned for nine meetings at Terang on January 1 but rode on a stay of proceedings at Sandown on Wednesday pending an appeal.
He rode a winner at Sandown but also incurred two careless riding charges in separate races.
Stewards held off issuing any penalty for Wednesday’s infringements until after the apprentice’s Terang appeal which Aitken withdrew.
Stewards gave Aitken a 10-meeting ban on one of the Sandown charges and 16 meetings for the second with those two penalties to be served concurrently after his Terang suspension finishes.
He can return on January 26.
