Luke Nolen will make his return to race riding following a back injury at Flemington on Saturday.
He has a booking for the Peter Moody-trained Gold Symphony in the Group Three CS Hayes Stakes over 1400m.
Gold Symphony provided Nolen with his last winner at Mornington on July 2 and he hasn’t ridden since a Caulfield meeting two days later.
A prolapsed disc between the L4 and L5 vertebrae sidelined the jockey.
Nolen said the Gold Symphony mount had come at the right time as he was considering heading to Wodonga on Saturday.
“I thought after riding work and a little sweat I might be tired by the time I get there so it’s probably a good thing I’m going to Flemington,” he said.
“I’ll be fresher.”
Nolen said he had continued to lose weight after tipping the scales at 70kg before his return to trackwork last month.
He said he expects to ride Gold Symphony at 58.5kg without a visit to the sauna.
“I don’t envisage having a sweat,” he said.
“But it’s been a part of the routine, so I might have one just in case.”
Saturday’s Flemington meeting features the Group One Black Caviar Lightning Stakes.
Nolen rode the great mare in 22 of her unbeaten 25 starts that included three-straight Lightning Stakes victories in from 2011 to 2013.
