Having secured his first Group 1 victory, Clayton Douglas would now like to win a feature race on his home track at Mornington.
While he does not have a starter in the Listed Mornington Cup (2400m) on Saturday, he will saddle Bless Her in the Listed Hareeba Stakes (1200m).
Douglas is still on cloud nine after Giga Kick provided the young trainer with victory in the Group 1 All-Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick last Saturday.
That followed the three-year-old’s success in The Everest (1200m) last October to give Douglas the dream start to his training career.
Douglas knows training is not that easy, but still has the confidence in Bless Her running a forward race on Saturday.
Bless Her pleased Douglas with her first-up run at Bendigo on April 1 when sixth over 1100m.
“She drew the carpark and the track got firm and we know she likes soft ground,” Douglas said.
“She’s drawn barrier two on Saturday, there’s going to be good speed. Jigsaw will probably have to push on and there’s a couple of others there that would like to hold a spot, but we won’t be far away.
“And every time she’s got into a smallish field she’s run really well.”
Growing up in the Mornington area with stables nearby, Douglas said it would be nice to win a Stakes race on his home track.
“It would be great to win a race on our feature day, but it would be better to win for the owners who have been loyal owners,” Douglas said.
“They’ve been in a few horses with me and one of my good mates, Troy Wilson, is one of the managing owners, so to get a Stakes win next to her name would be phenomenal.
“We’ve been close with her a few times. She got pipped in a Sir John Monash Stakes and ran second in an Alinghi Stakes.
“It would be good to take out a race like that on Saturday.”