KEY POINTS:
Unlike every other Melbourne Cup jockey this afternoon, Craig Newitt won't be thinking of the Flemington winning post when he's legged into the saddle on Efficient's back.
Running through his mind instead will be the home straight of a lowly maiden race at Ballarat on August 27.
It was the day Newitt got the black mark on his record book that can never be erased. He was charged with not allowing Efficient every chance to win in what was the 3-year-old's debut performance.
Newitt was rubbed out for three months, and got two of those back on appeal, but the stinging remains.
"This will be payback time," said Newitt yesterday with a fair bit of feeling.
Efficient hasn't been beaten in five starts since the Ballarat maiden which, in retrospect, casts a fair shadow over Newitt's performance, but the rider has always strongly maintained his innocence.
And if you're looking to turn the page on your life, winning a Melbourne Cup is certainly not a bad way to do it.
Newitt does not have the public profile of some of Australia's superstar jockeys, but several professional judges rate him the best in the country.
He has had to lose 3kg to get down to Efficient's 49kg, which he was confident he could do because he says he naturally eats more than most jockeys.
He even admits to a liking for KFC.
"There is not a jockey in the [jockeys'] room that likes food more than I do."
Nor will there be a happier one if Efficient can prove the record books wrong this afternoon.
