Arguably the best horse in Australia, Giga Kick had his first official piece of work ahead of his Spring campaign, winning an 850m jump out at Cranbourne on Monday morning.
Settling at the back of the field of five, Giga Kick found the line nicely between runners under regular jockey Craig Williams, just edging out a quarter of smart sprinters headed by Wee Nessy.
A Spring campaign geared around defending The Everest title is set to kick off in Melbourne, with the Group 2 Mcewen Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley on September 9 his first up assignment, with Clayton Douglas outlining the four-year-olds campaign.
“He’ll run in the Premiere Stakes second up which will tune him up nicely for The Everest, we’ve sort of found his third up run has been his best, hopefully it comes to fruition this time in,” Douglas told RSN on Monday.
Already a winner of over $9.5 million in prizemoney, Giga Kick could double that in just two Spring runs, with Douglas also confirming the Golden Eagle would be his fourth up run.
Having raced over the Queensland Winter, winning the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 (1200m), Giga Kick retained some fitness, but Douglas was thrilled with how he’s spelled and matured.
“We’re really rapt with him, he’s obviously coming off a Queensland preparation so he hasn’t got his Winter hair on at the moment, he looks terrific… Craig (Williams) was really happy with what he felt… really happy with where we’re situated,” Douglas said.
“He’s a lot bigger and stronger, he’s only a medium size of horse but he’s definitely thickened across the back, he’s got a lot more muscle where there needs to be so we’re in a really good position at the moment.”
With just 10 starts under his belt and notably being a gelding, there is every possibility Giga Kick can be a top sprinter for a long time.
“Hopefully he can get the public to the races and we can put on a really good show first up,” Douglas said.
Giga Kick is currently a $3.50 favourite (all-in) for The Everest and a $4 favourite (pre-noms) for the Golden Eagle with TAB.