Damian Lane will be reunited with Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux when she has her last race in the Arima Kinen in Japan.
Although short-term licences have been issued for 2019, the JRA has made an exception for Lane who spent some time riding in Japan earlier this year.
Ten runners in the 16-horse field for the Arima Kinen at Nakayama over 2500m on December 22 are voted for by the public.
Lys Graceux, trained by Yoshita Yohagi, gave the Melbourne-based Lane his first Cox plate with her brilliant win in October.
The Arima Kinen is acknowledged as the world’s biggest betting race.