Clayton Douglas and his star sprinter Giga Kick will break tradition when they kick off at Caulfield on Saturday instead of heading to Sydney for The Everest.

The 2022 Everest winner, who missed last year’s race through injury, resumes in the Group 2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m) as part of a new four-run campaign.

“Normally he would kick off earlier in the spring but we’re a bit later this time,” Douglas said. “He’s forward enough to be running really well.”

Douglas said skipping The Everest opens the door to other feature sprints such as the McEwen Stakes, Champions Sprint and CF Orr Stakes.

“We’ve tried to win the Champions Sprint a couple of times… hopefully this time we can be the fresh horse on the scene,” he said.

Now a powerful six-year-old weighing just under 550kg, Douglas says Giga Kick is “bigger, stronger and moving freely” ahead of his return.