Jockey Larry Cassidy's injured finger may force him to rest for up to a week ahead of his bid to win next month's Group One Newmarket Handicap at Flemington on Queenslander Burdekin Blues.Cassidy continued his dominance of Brisbane's depleted riding ranks when he scored aboard the Barry Baldwin-trained Local Talent in Wednesday's Maiden Plate (1350m) at Doomben.Missing from Brisbane's jockeys' rooms are injured riders Glen Colless, Jim Byrne and Stathi Katsidis while Scott Seamer rode in New Zea

Jockey Larry Cassidy's injured finger may force him to rest for up to a week ahead of his bid to win next month's Group One Newmarket Handicap at Flemington on Queenslander Burdekin Blues.

Cassidy continued his dominance of Brisbane's depleted riding ranks when he scored aboard the Barry Baldwin-trained Local Talent in Wednesday's Maiden Plate (1350m) at Doomben.

Missing from Brisbane's jockeys' rooms are injured riders Glen Colless, Jim Byrne and Stathi Katsidis while Scott Seamer rode in New Zealand last weekend.

Cassidy injured the middle finger on his whip hand a fortnight ago and has been riding in pain ever since despite X-rays clearing him of any breaks.

Local Talent's win was the former Kiwi jockey's 11th metropolitan win since he moved to Brisbane late last month to ride full-time after becoming disillusioned by a lack of opportunities in Sydney.

Cassidy strapped two fingers on his right hand together after each race at Doomben and will decide on Thursday whether he needs to rest.

"The strapping gives it more support but I'm hoping it won't swell up tomorrow," Cassidy said.

"If it does I'll have to take a week off riding before coming back on Saturday week."

Cassidy rode Burdekin Blues to an Eagle Farm win on January 24 but Shane Scriven was in the saddle when the sprinter scored a dashing victory in the Expressway Stakes at Rosehill a fortnight later.

Scriven was unable to make Burdekin Blues' weight for the Newmarket paving the way for Cassidy to be reunited with the four-year-old in the 1200-metre feature on March 7.

Local Talent was bought at the Magic Millions sales at the Gold Coast and is owned by Macau trainer Steve Leung.

"Steve used to train in Hong Kong but he's training in Macau now," Baldwin said.

"I became his friend when I used to train in Macau a few years ago."

Baldwin and Cassidy agreed Local Talent was looking for longer and a winter carnival campaign may not be beyond the three-year-old son of Anabaa.

"I'm not sure how far he'll go but he should run a middle distance," Baldwin said.

"If he improves once he gets to 2000 metres then he might be a winter chance."