KEY POINTS:
No one could blame Richard Coxon for thinking it's his turn with Desert Flight tomorrow.
Victory in the $35,000 Peter Colwill Thames Gold Cup would be fitting reward for sterling service by Desert Flight.
The eight-year-old veteran is almost always seen carrying big weights these days and the
58kg tomorrow is no easy assignment.
But he carried the same weight at Te Rapa last time and went down by only half a head and a long neck to Valley Chief and Willy Smith, either of which would be $1.75 favourite in this race.
The only requirement for Desert Flight is a firm track.
His formline this preparation is 4-0-2-0-3, the two zeros representing the couple of occasions he has struck a track officially rated dead.
The Thames surface looks likely to be firm and it is a track which suits horses that race on the pace and fight hard - Desert Flight's normal flight plan.
"He's always thereabouts when he gets good ground," said part-owner and trainer Richard Coxon. "Now that the tracks have come right he's racing well."
Desert Flight will be ridden by apprentice Buddy Lammas.
"Buddy couldn't ride him in his final gallop this morning because he was on his way to Ruakaka races, but brother Cameron galloped him and was very pleased with what he did."
Speedalot is one of the most promising stayers around.
Trainer Cydne Evans also has the mare accepted for race one, the Rating 83 event, and she said at Ruakaka races yesterday she would not make up her mind until tonight.
"Obviously the Rating 83 race is an easy option, but I had her ready for the 2100m of the Dunstan Final on Monday [didn't get a run as an emergency] and to get her back for 1700m in the first race is a big ask.
"The 2000m of the Cup suits best and it's a good stake."
Speedalot has not raced since finishing third in a Rating 92 event (1600m) at Avondale on December 9 when she raced like a horse looking for a middle distance.
She could be a big danger if Evans decides for the Cup tonight.
Shereigns will appreciate a drop in class from most of her recent races.
She didn't figure behind Sharvasti in the Avondale Cup, but her 4.5 lengths eighth in Chettak's Counties Cup previously was a sound indicator for a race like this.
Seventh Heaven did not get the best of runs when sixth to Kingsinga at Ellerslie over the carnival.
Her previous efforts behind Philamor and Logarhythm were sound.