Impressive debut Sale winner Giga Kick is heading to town in a bid to show his credentials ahead of a spring campaign.
The Clayton Douglas-trained two-year-old is down to run in the Trevor Clarke Handicap (1000m) at Flemington on Saturday, his first run since February.
Giga Kick is owned by Pinecliff Racing and Rod Douglas, the uncle of the trainer and racing manager for Pinecliff head Jonathan Munz, said the gelding is ready to run well first-up.
Douglas watched Giga Kick work on the inside grass at Mornington on Tuesday morning and said it was a gallop capable of forward showing on Saturday.
However, Douglas does not want to see a particularly wet track on Saturday despite Giga Kick winning a Cranbourne trial on heavy ground on July 4.
And Matthew Cartwright, who rode Giga Kick in the Cranbourne trial, will take the mount on Saturday.
“He didn’t appear that flash in the heavy ground at Cranbourne, so hopefully we get a better track on Saturday,” Douglas said.
“Matthew Cartwright rides and the one-and-a-half kilos off is certainly some help.
“I’m not really sure the 1000 (metres) will be ideal for him, but if he wants to be a stakes horse in the spring, he’s got to go close on Saturday.”
Douglas said Saturday’s sprint will determine the spring path for the two-year-old.
He said if Giga Kick was successful, or ran well, the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield on August 13 was likely to be his next assignment.
“We’ll get a guide out of him on Saturday and if he happened to win, then we’ll probably look at the Vain Stakes,” Douglas said.
“But if he doesn’t win, or run well, we can come back a notch or two and go through the grades.
“Saturday will determine where he ends up, spring wise.”
