Date set for Giga Kick v Nature Strip round 2
Clayton Douglas has confirmed his unbeaten gelding and Everest winner, Giga Kick, will bypass the Coolmore Stud Stakes, instead opting for the Champions Sprint on the last day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
Giga Kick took his record to five wins from five career starts by winning the $15 million Everest at Royal Randwick on October 15, beating the world’s best sprinter, Nature Strip, who faded out of the race in the final 100m to finish fourth.
Initially Douglas had planned for his star gelding to take on the Coolmore Stud Stakes against the best three-year-olds in the country on Derby Day, however, he confirmed with Racing.com that he will opt for the longer break between runs and take on Nature Strip again in the Champions Sprint.
“It obviously suits better for the horse for us not to rush him and to give him that extra week.” Douglas told Racing.com on Friday morning.
“It’s the same trip up the straight but the break in between looks perfect.
“Timing-wise it suits better, with the trip to Sydney and back, it feels like the three weeks is the right way to go.
“He seems completely fine, but I just made the call this morning to go for the Champions Sprint and what an exciting lead-up to a great race that should be.”
Douglas seems to be taking the cautious route with his star three-year-old and who can blame him after taking out the world’s richest horse race on turf just a week ago.
There are still reservations about how good Giga Kick is, considering that he has only beating Nature Strip once, but now we get the second meeting in just under a month.
The two star sprinters will do battle on November 5 at Flemington down that famous 1200m straight.
After Clayton Douglas’ announcement on Friday, Giga Kick has firmed into $6 in the Champions Sprint market with online bookmakers, as he looks to extend his unbeaten start to his career to six.