James Winks has had the length of a careless riding suspension reduced on appeal and is free to ride on Mornington Cup day.

Winks appealed both the decision and severity of penalty after being suspended for 12 meetings at Terang last Thursday.

While the Racing Appeals and Disciplinary Board dismissed his appeal against the charge on Wednesday, the jockey was successful in having four meetings shaved off the ban.

It means Winks can ride on Saturday and he is booked for the Tony McEvoy-trained Lucky Lucky Lucky in the $300,000 Mornington Cup and the Pat Carey-trained Dan Zephyr in the Listed Hareeba Stakes.

Winks is also booked to ride Tarquin for Godolphin in the Mornington Guineas, Tiz My View for Sam Pritchard-Gordon in a 1200m race and the Danny O'Brien-trained colt Lycurgus in the Mornington Sires'.

Chris Symons had an 11-meeting careless riding suspension varied to nine meetings on appeal and can return to race riding next Wednesday.