The disappointment of missing out on a key ride through suspension was still fresh for jockey Michael Rodd after winning a race at Bendigo on Saturday.
Rodd was suspended for 14 meetings on Friday night for careless riding in the Alister Clark Stakes and will miss the Reisling Stakes ride on Villa Verde next Saturday.
He will be back to take the ride on the filly in the Golden Slipper.
“It’s a bit of a blow but that’s the way it goes,” Rodd said.
“I ended up winning the Reisling a couple of years back for Gillian Heinrich (on Military Rose) when Stathi Katsidis was suspended.
“I warmed the saddle for him then so it’s a similar thing.”
Hugh Bowman has picked up the ride on the unbeaten Villa Verde in the Reisling.
“Hopefully she can go up there and run well and she’ll be 110 per cent for the Slipper,” Rodd said.
Villa Verde was due to leave for Sydney on Saturday night.
Rodd’s suspension started after the Bendigo meeting, but the jockey got in the winner’s stall on Saturday with promising four-year-old Felidea ($7) in the All Seasons Hotel Bendigo Handicap (1100m).
The Leon Corstens-trained horse won two in a row before going for a spell late last year and returned with a 2-1/2 length win.
“I think he’s a really nice horse and he’ll win a good race over 1400 metres,” Rodd said.
