Lane rides Humidor to surprise cup win

South West jockey Damian Lane claimed one of the biggest victories of his career on Saturday when he rode Humidor to victory in the $1.5 million TAB Australian Cup (2000m) at Flemington Racecourse.

The Darren Weir-trained four-year-old won by under half a length from last year’s Melbourne Cup runner Jameka and Damian Oliver’s ride, Exospheric.

It was Humidor’s fifth career victory from 14 starts and first since Weir took over as trainer after a 13-week spell.

The bay gelding was placed second in his past two starts and won in his fourth race of the latest campaign.

Humidor ran wide and sprinted past the pack on the straight to claim the victory, despite Jameka looking home with just 200m to go.

Humdor’s next challenge is expected to be the $1.5 million BMW at Rosehill over 2400m in two weeks time, with Lane set to again be in the saddle for the fifth-straight race.