(Rod Gallegos is a senior presenter with Sky Racing and Sky Sports Radio.)

The old racing maxim says always bet with your head and not your heart. Nevertheless, there are times when that passionless principle is entitled to be pushed aside and the Golden Slipper may be one of those occasions.

Neville Layt is an inscrutable individual - a salt-of-the-earth racing man, colourful character, a bit of a larrikin but a thoroughly decent bloke - who deserves to land one of the elusive racing goals.

An inveterate cigarette smoker - he reckons he delighted his doctor by confessing to have cut down to two packs a day - Neville, nevertheless, is a top-class horseman.

When the equine apple of his eye, Karuta Queen, drew barrier 13 and I proffered the statistic that no Golden Slipper winner had emerged from that gate, he fired back: "Until this year no horse had won the Magic Millions fresh from a 10-week break," he replied.

Having disposed of the sentiment, let's examine the facts. If Karuta Queen had won the Black Opal Stakes at Canberra she would have been a lot shorter than $17 because she would have retained her unbeaten record. Those odds have been trimmed by fans of the filly and she now is a $13 chance.

While she was downed in the Black Opal by You're Canny - a subsequent flop last Saturday - there were excuses because she was a bit sore after the race.

A sparkling workout on Thursday by Karuta Queen indicated she was back to her best.

Go Nifty! Go on and prove the point that good blokes don't always finish second. 

(One more word on the Golden Slipper; why is Hot Snitzel at such lamentably long odds? This Gerard Ryan-trained gelding has not finished further back than fourth in three runs so far. And if a photo-finish had favoured him instead of Uate in the Skyline, there is no doubt he would be much shorter in pre-post betting.)

***** 

SATURDAY'S meeting at Rosehill is one of those crackerjack race days. Nine events, five Group Ones, one Group Two and three Group Threes.

An all-black type day and historically it is the first Golden Slipper Stakes day conduced under the auspices of the Australian Turf Club, the merged version of the AJC and STC.Hopefully the weather is kind because it has all the ingredients to be memorable. 

There is an interesting riding change for talented galloper, King Mufhasa, in the Group One George Ryder Stakes. Sam Spratt and King Mufhasa have been a solid partnership, in fact the leading woman jockey has been on the horse for 27 of his 41 career starts.

However, for the Sydney extension of his Australian campaign King Mufhasa on Saturday will be ridden by Michael Rodd.

*****

INTERESTINGLY, Spratt is straying in New Zealand for the Awapuni meeting so it may be worth sticking with her mounts in two of the feature races. She is on Antonio Lombardo, a quite well credentialed two-year-old in the Group One Sires Produce Stakes while in the Group Two Awapuni Cup, she rides Cassini.

Although unplaced in the 3200-metre Auckland Cup at her latest start, she may have freshened up sufficiently in the three subsequent weeks to be suited by the drop back to 2000 metres this weekend.

With regard to King Mufhasa, he deserves a Rosehill win because he has finished third in the George Ryder for the past two years.