Caulfield
Scissor Kick/Rekindled Applause (GB)
Clayton Douglas
13th August 2022
Giga Kick takes Vain Stakes
Exactly two years after training his first winner, Clayton Douglas secured his first Group race win at Caulfield on Saturday with an exciting horse who looks set to continue to break new ground for the trainer this spring.
Giga Kick made it three runs for three wins and established himself as a G1 contender this spring after coming from midfield and chasing down favourite Alpha One to secure the G3 Vain Stakes (1100m) in class-record time.
“I thought he was going to have to be pretty good to pick up those horses in front, but he’s got a lot of ability this horse,” Douglas said after the race.
“The sky’s the limit at the moment.”
Barocha was the first runner for former flat and jumps jockey Douglas as a trainer on August 13 in 2020 when he won at Sale before being sold off to Hong Kong. But it is unlikely the same fate awaits Giga Kick, despite there being reports of some huge offers from Asia being put to owner Jonathan Munz.
“Jonathan loves this horse so we’ll just stick on the course and see where he takes us,” Douglas said. “He might be one of the favourites for the Coolmore (Stud Stakes) after that.”
Giga Kick appeared on the Coolmore market moments after his Vain Stakes win on the fourth line of betting at $12.
On Saturday, he started at $4 and had a neck margin over $3.10 favourite Alpha One, with $9 chance Millane making up good ground from back in the field for third, more than two lengths away.
Douglas said the experience of having to race midfield and chase down a class colt like Alpha One would be of benefit to the son of Scissor Kick as he gets deeper into the spring.
“He was solid,” Douglas said. “He was a bit keen in the run still so obviously we’ll go to the 1200 metres (McNeil Quality) and sum it up.
“But, at this stage, there is no reason to press him too hard, so we’ll probably keep him at the 1200.
“Physically, he’s not quite there. He was walking around with some of those colts and he was still just not there. Not there in the coat as well. He’s still a bit patchy so he’ll come on from this run.”
Article – Racing.com