Clayton Douglas has issued a warning to rivals ahead of the upcoming Winter carnival, declaring Giga Kick is shaping up to be a major player this preparation following an encouraging 800-metre jumpout at Mornington on Wednesday, ridden by Mark Zahra.
In his first public outing this campaign, Giga Kick was under little pressure and finished third, just half a length behind Miss Icelandic and Tropicus. Douglas said it was the first of several jumpouts leading into a Queensland tilt.
“It was a nice first jumpout back,” he said.
“It was Mark’s first sit on him this preparation and he gave him a glowing report and it was a nice trial to watch.
“We have a bit of time up our sleeve, I’m not really in a hurry.
For a horse like him, there is not a lot of races around over the next four-to-six weeks, so we will just get his conditioning work up and get a few trials into him and have him ready to go first-up.”
Douglas confirmed Giga Kick is most likely to resume in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m) on May 17 — a race he took out last year — over a possible return in the Group 1 The Goodwood one week earlier.
“The (Doomben) 10,000 is obviously on our radar and there is a couple of other options,” Douglas said.
“Once I get through that third trial, I will see how he comes through it and gives me a bit of time to make that assessment.
It’s probably a two, maybe three-run preparation and that will set me up for the spring.
I missed the Winter Carnival last time out through injury and it took me a while where I needed him to be last spring.”
The five-year-old, who has earned $12.79 million across 15 starts, will trial again in two weeks. Douglas believes skipping the Sydney autumn is a strategic move to have the gelding peaking for the Spring Carnival.
“You always have a T.J. Smith Stakes in the back of your mind, it’s such a stellar race and we got beat a couple of years ago in, but I think I am doing the right thing by the horse,” he explained.
“I want him to be around and be the face of racing for a while.
He is going to be a force to be reckoned with.”
Meanwhile, Giga Kick’s half-brother by Pariah, Pantoja, will resume racing at Pakenham on Thursday night, currently rated a $9 chance with online betting companies in Race 2.
“I am trying something with him, he’s never kicked off over 1000m before, but his one trial was really good behind some smart horses at Balnarring,” Douglas said.
“He will run really well Thursday night, whether they are a bit sharp for him we will find out, but he’s there to run well.”