Giga Kick has rounded off his preparation for his return in a Group 1 contest in Adelaide with a quiet jump-out at Balnarring.
A former winner of The Everest, Giga Kick is Adelaide bound for a tilt at The Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville on May 10.
Under the set-weights and penalties conditions of The Goodwood, Giga Kick will carry 54.5kg which is 1.5kg below jockey Mark Zahra’s lightest riding weight in his past 50 rides.
“My jockey will have to watch his weight,” trainer Clayton Douglas told RSN.
“The 54-½ is a great weight. Being a set-weights and penalties race and albeit he has been performing very well, but he hasn’t won since he was a three-year-old.
“Having missed out on a fair chunk of his four-year-old season with injury, he gets in really well at the weights.
“It’s very exciting to have him back and it’s not long until his first-up assignment.”
Giga Kick finished second in his 1000m jump-out on Wednesday morning but was held together by Zahra throughout the workout.
It was the third jump-out for Giga Kick in preparation for his return, having finished third at Mornington before scoring over Austmarr at Balnarring on April 16.
Douglas took Giga Kick to Sandown last week where he had a gallop on the course proper.
“He had a little bowl around at Balnarring this morning,” Douglas said.
“He wasn’t out to do too much. He had a fairly hard trial behind Austmarr a fortnight ago and we’ve been able to get some nice work into him at home.
“He had a good stretch of the legs, and I was really happy with how he came through it and how he’s trialled, and he seems on track for next week.”
Giga Kick’s last victory came in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 in May 2023.
He suffered an injury in his return run in the McEwen Stakes at Moonee Valley in September 2023, then spent a year on the sidelines before running in the Concorde Stakes at Randwick last September.
Giga Kick had three more starts for the preparation, including a close second in The Everest.
Douglas has set about getting Giga Kick back to his peak.
“I think he’s as good as he’s ever been and he’s going to take beating,” Douglas said.
