Damian Lane will be the new rider for West Australian wonder filly Amelia’s Jewel Lane in a campaign that will kick off at Flemington on September 9.
The jockey change and Let’s Elope Stakes (1400m) are locked in but where that campaign ultimately lands - either at the $10m Golden Eagle or the $5m Ladbrokes Cox Plate will not be confirmed until after the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) at Caulfield on October 14.
A start on Sunday October 1 (possibly a rescheduled $1m GI Sir Rupert Clark) at Caulfield would wedge in-between those two races.
Walsh will meet with both Australian Turf Club and Moonee Valley officials next week but is no rush to cement plans other than the fourth run of the campaign will be either of those October 28 features across Sydney and Melbourne.
Walsh and trainer Simon Miller met in Perth yesterday to scratch out options, the $3m Champion Stakes at Flemington on November 11 after the Golden Eagle or Cox Plate also remains on the table.
Walsh is leaning to the Golden Eagle, Miller to the Cox Plate, so for now it's a "not sure", other than two trials in the west before coming to Melbourne to run in the Let's Elope under its appealing set weights and penalties conditions.
"In the end she will probably tell us, she comes first, but it will be those two runs in Melbourne then we will make the call," Walsh said.
"But the Cox Plate is such a prestigious race and obviously is won by only the best horses so we will give it serious consideration at the time, it all depends how she is going and if we are happy with her form."
Amelia's Jewel is $6 co-favourite for the Golden Eagle with Giga Kick but is not even listed in TAB markets for the Cox Plate. She is $19 with Betr and $21 with the race sponsor.
Talks of changes to a spring target for Amelia's Jewel bubbled when Walsh rejected an offer of a slot in the $15m The Everest last week.
Amelia's Jewel is considered one of the most exciting horses and drawcards in the country, coming off only her second defeat in a nine-start already Group 1 winning career, narrowly missing Overpass in the $4m Quokka at Ascot last weekend, and she's now on a 10-week break
at Amelia Park farm.
Amelia's Jewel went down narrowly in a sensational finish to The Quokka. Picture: Western Race Pix.
Perth based jockey Patrick Carbery, who has been aboard for all of Amelia's Jewel's race starts (and trials), will stand aside for the next phase of the filly's career, with Walsh and Miller moving to another (former) West Australian jockey Damian Lane, now making his mark on the international stage, currently on another Japan contract.
Walsh has horses in training with Lane's father Michael, who trains out of Boyanup south of Perth, near Amelia Park country.
"Damian had always been at the top of our list for potential riders moving forward and I suppose you could say another piece of this puzzle fell into place when his manager (Dean Hawkes) rang last Monday to offer his services to ride her ‘anywhere we take her'," Miller said.
"He's a Bunbury boy," Walsh said, "Pat has done a magnificent job with her, but we are glad to have a jockey of Damian's ability and maturity and he's one of us (a West Aussie)."
Lane has again hit the boards running in Japan, he had 9 winners from 28 rides in just two weekends three days of riding for stakes of A$1.2m to Saturday.
Racing Victoria has $1m bonuses for a Cox Plate winner that wins any of the Feehan, Makybe Diva, Underwood or Turnbull Stakes leading in while the Champions Mile (run also November 11) offers another $1m to a Toorak Handicap winner.
Walsh is excited about the international stage for Amelia's Jewel but said one thing out of yesterday's meeting with Miller was that Royal Ascot next year is out.
"I am very keen to go to Dubai with her (for the US$5m Dubai Turf over 1800m on March 30) but going to Ascot might impinge on next year's spring and as Simon says, there is just so much money on offer here," Walsh said.
Peter Walsh and Amelia's Jewel's trainer Simon Miller. Picture: Western Racepix
It would also mean a consideration for Hong Kong International day on December 10 after this Melbourne spring would be unlikely.
"We are currently getting a genetic gene test done on her to give some sort of indication as to her best distance range, but one thing we do know is she is freakish," Walsh said.
He added that Miller's partner Ellie Crispe, a vet, recently tested the heart of Amelia's Jewel.
"I don't know how she does that, but she said she's got an enlarged heart, or that it pumps 120mls extra a minute. That's freakish."
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