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By Greg Prichard

Jockey Adrian Layt, whose five-year-old son Liam has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, will be cheering on from Dubbo when Overpass runs for the Save Our Sons Duchenne Foundation in the $10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill on Saturday.

The ultimate aim of Save Our Sons is to help find a cure for the debilitating condition and in the meantime it works to enhance the quality of life for those living with it.

Layt’s wife, Carolina, and their three children – Rocko, nine, Liam, and three-year-old Charlie – will be at Rosehill to cheer on the Bjorn Baker-trained and Rachel King-ridden Overpass while he rides at the Dubbo meeting.

Ten per cent of the prizemoney for the Golden Eagle will be distributed among the nominated charities for the 20 runners, including a massive $525,000 out of the first prize of $5.25 million. Prizemoney runs all the way down to 20th place in the 1500m race for four-year-olds.

Layt was naturally thrilled when the owners of Overpass decided to link with Save Our Sons for the big race and was further delighted when the horse drew barrier three in the massive field.

Adrian Layt and sons Charlie (3) & Liam (5) will be cheering on Overpass in Saturday's Golden Eagle.

Overpass, which ran sixth in The TAB Everest at its most recent start, is yet to win over further than 1200m but connections must have a strong belief in its ability to be competitive over the 1500m because it could have instead run in the $3 million Nature Strip Stakes over 1300m.

“They’re very experienced people who know what they’re doing and they must think it’s the more suitable race,” Layt said.

“Even if they go hard from the start it should suit Overpass anyway, because he can just sit behind them from that inside gate.

“We’re rapt as a family to see Save Our Sons get a runner and for it to be Overpass. The Baker stable has had a great year and Rachel is a great jockey. Horses run for her.

“Overpass is a more furnished horse as a four-year-old. He’s more than capable of matching it on form if he likes the distance. He’s against his own age now, he’s not stepping out against the likes of Nature Strip and Eduardo, which are tough older horses. He’s been mixing it pretty well with them.

“The prizemoney for this race and the money the charities can earn is astronomical – particularly if you can place high. Carolina and I will be fingers crossed and hoping Overpass runs the race of his life. She’ll be at the track with the kids and I’ll be watching it on TV and cheering on from Dubbo.”

Layt and his family live in Sydney’s north-west and he regularly drives for hours to get to tracks like Dubbo and ride.

On these trips, when he has a lot of time to just sit and think while driving, the emotion of the situation with Liam can easily get to him.

“On the long drive to the races I’ll often find myself having a bit of a cry,” Layt said.

“The boys help me pack my bag for the races and recently Liam was doing that and he said, ‘I need a pair of boots’. I always give him my old boots and goggles. I said, ‘What do you need another pair of boots for?’ and he said, ‘For when I start riding in races’.

“It’s those little things, they get to me. We’re not going to turn around and say to him, ‘Mate, it’s not going to happen’. I don’t want to break his little heart.

“You’d do anything for your children, so if the odds about them finding a cure are huge but we can put ‘X’ amount of dollars into that research and shorten those odds a bit, it’s worth it. If we can do that, not just for Liam but a lot of other families in the same boat, that would be fantastic.”

Layt has an incredibly strong woman by his side in Carolina, who keeps things running at home with the three kids while he is away on long days as travelling jockeys like him do.

“We are so grateful that Racing NSW has these kinds of races that are able to help organisations like Save Our Sons,” Carolina said. “All of the charities. It’s a fantastic concept. I think it’s amazing.

“When the doctors tell you there is no cure and what the life expectancy is with Duchenne, your whole life changes.

“Normally, you like to think about what your children are going to do when they get older, but those plans go to the side and you have to focus on what you can do now and make the most of it for them.

"Hopefully research can keep kicking in so we can get a bigger life expectancy and better quality of life for Liam and other children like him.”

All the fields, form and replays for Saturday's Golden Eagle meeting at Rosehill