Giga Kick has returned to Clayton Douglas’ Mornington stables and will be back under saddle this week as the champion sprinter continues his recovery from injury.
The four-year-old hasn’t raced since the McEwen Stakes last September but is pleasing Douglas since returning to his care.
“He’s back in light work and doing a bit of water walking and treadmilling and he’ll be back under saddle this week,” Douglas revealed.
“He had been actively spelling, he had been walking on the treadmill of a morning and in the afternoon so we’ve kept him busy and his mind fresh.
“He’s an athlete and he likes doing things and I think being in a paddock not doing much was doing his head in.”
Giga Kick suffered from a muscle tear between his hamstring and his hip with Douglas explaining the injury would be closely monitored as the Everest winners workload is increased in coming months.
“It’s easy enough to monitor it through ultrasound scans of the muscle and it’s a pretty easy procedure you can just do it in his box at home,” Douglas said.
As for his 2024 plans, while the Everest in October will be his main target, how he gets there is far from determined with all options on the table.
“We might get him up to trial stage and then back off him and get him ready for spring,” Douglas said.
“Or whether we give him one run and then focus on spring.
“Or do we go up to Sydney and get him away from the wet weather and give him a couple of trials up there and leave him there for a break?
“Even Queensland is an option at the moment.
“Everything is an option at the moment, we are just in the early parts and trying to do the right thing by him.”
Giga Kick has won seven of his 11 starts and amassed over $9.6 million in prizemoney thanks to his Everest win in 2022 and G1 All Aged Stakes and Doomben 10,000 triumphs.
– racing.com