The Everest winner is now a Group 1 winner after Giga Kick outpointed a classy All Aged Stakes field to close the curtain on a thrilling Sydney autumn carnival.
In taking out Saturday’s $1.5 million All Aged Stakes, Giga Kick gave his young trainer Clayton Douglas a first major and capped jockey Craig Williams return from a broken collarbone suffered in a race day fall in March.
“I’m not a very emotional person but for some reason I’m getting a bit emotional about this one,” Douglas said.
“It means a lot, it’s everything we strive to do.
“He was back and just rounded them up like a very good horse.
“It’s amazing to think I’ve got a Group One next to my name. The horse, he deserves it himself, he’s done a terrific job and for Craig (Williams) to come back from injury, the way he rode that horse was phenomenal. Great team effort.”
Tom Marquand spiced the race up when he took Lost And Running to a clear lead after the horse was going to be caught wide on-speed.
But the bold sprinter couldn’t sustain his run as Giga Kick ($2.90 betr fav) ambled up on the outside and kicked clear to score by 1-3/4 lengths over Zaaki ($6) with last year’s winner Cascadian ($6.50) another short head away third.
The All Aged Stakes (1400m) was Giga Kick’s first start beyond 1200m and he handled it with aplomb.
Such is Douglas’ opinion of the three-year-old, he believes Giga Kick could probably extend to a middle distance if trained for it.
“He’s a freak. If I trained him for a Cox Plate he’d probably win it, that’s how good he is,” he said.
Douglas will decide this week whether to take Giga Kick to Brisbane for the Doomben 10,000 or spell him with a view towards defending his Everest title.
The horse has yet to be locked in by a slot holder but there has already been plenty of interest.
Williams missed riding Giga Kick in the T J Smith Stakes when the gelding finished second and said the exciting sprinter made light work of his All Aged rivals.
“I remember sitting in hospital when they said I wasn’t going to be able to ride him in the T J and I know how that felt,” Williams said.
“Luckily enough they gave me the opportunity to ride him today and I must tell Clayton and his owner that I work our harder on my mechanical horse than what I had to do in the race today because he is such a serious horse.”
Japanese raider Ho O Amazon finished seventh but was never in the hunt with his jockey Ryusei Sakai saying the horse didn’t enjoy the wet track.
