KEY POINTS:
You won't find a jockey this season as desperate to win as Gavin McKeon aboard Rosina Lad in this afternoon's $250,000 Coupland's Bakeries Mile at Riccarton.
McKeon starts a month's suspension when he packs his bags tonight, courtesy of the reckless riding charge brought against him over his handling of New Zealand mare Seachange in Saturday's A$750,000 Emirates Stakes in Melbourne.
It was only the second time a jockey has been found guilty of reckless riding since the charge was introduced.
The Australian was still so distraught over the incident when riding at Otaki yesterday that he couldn't bring himself to properly talk about it.
"I need to duck for cover for a while.
"I've taken quite a hammering in the press in the last two weeks.
"All I can say about that race is that it was disappointing and it was frustrating and it's something I will learn from."
You could detect the emotion in McKeon's voice.
"I'm shaken. I still don't know what I'm going to do with myself for a month."
He was much happier to talk about Rosina Lad, who is in the best form of his career and has 57kg topweight today.
"I worked him this morning and he feels great - he's very well.
"Yes, you can say I'd desperately love to win this race to go out on a winning note and I think I will."
Then he reflected on his inability to talk about the Melbourne incident.
"Look, give me two weeks and I'll be chewing your ear off again."
Since he arrived in New Zealand McKeon has impressed with his ability to take the bad with the good. Combining with the in-form veteran Rosina Lad, the pair will be the sentimental favourites today.
Rosina Lad can act on all surfaces, but unlike a few here he won't be inconvenienced if some of the predicted showers arrive.
The horse Rosina Lad will probably find the toughest to beat is Matamata giant Alonzo.
The big bloke has had only 11 career starts but has already been unlucky in both the Rich Hill Mile at Ellerslie and Trentham's Thorndon Mile.
He was in front, probably too soon, close to the finish in the Rich Hill before being dive-bombed and wound up fourth, then he struck traffic problems at Trentham, finishing eighth, but only three lengths from the winner.
He is a significantly stronger horse this preparation and showed that with a fabulous first-up second at Ellerslie, when he once again worked into the clear too late.
Being such a big strider he will find the wide open spaces of Riccarton ideal for him and the 4.5kg he receives off Rosina Lad will come in handy when the field starts to get breathless inside the 200m.
The camp Alonzo is delighted the rain, predicted for Christchurch all day yesterday, was continuing to hold out late in the day.
One stable that won't be disappointed with any rain is Lisa Latta with Mikki Street.
He is also able to perform on all surfaces, but his preference is probably for rain-affected footing as he showed in August when he won the Winter Cup on this track in bottomless mud.
Probably the best guide since to this race was when he finished a luckless eighth, three lengths from winner Legs, in the $1 million Kelt Capital Stakes at Hastings.
Leigh Valley was just topped off in this race last year by gun metric miler Cog Hill and her form lately suggests she is peaking at exactly the right time for a similar performance. There is no Cog Hill in this time and if Leigh Valley gets the right sort of passage she should prove difficult to contain.
The odds
* $4.25 Alonzo
* $4.50 Leigh Valley
* $7 Ombre Rose
* $8 Mikki Street, Hurrah, Rosina Lad
* $11 Dezigna
* $13 Pinprick
* $25 Taalisman
* $30 Sapphire Belle, Delbrae
* $50 Coup Entrepreneur
* $80 Le Saint
