Australia; Giga Kick looks to get back on top at Doomben

Giga Kick’s career changed when the Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old won the world’s richest sprint, the $9.3 million Everest Stakes at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia last October.

Giga Kick was 20-1 in the Everest and has since been the subject of consistently high expectations, often failing to duplicate the achievement.

Giga Kick has since won once in four starts, in the Grade 1 All Aged Stakes at seven furlongs at Randwick on April 15, leading to another round of high hopes for his appearance in the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 Stakes at six furlongs at Doomben Racecourse in Brisbane on Friday evening.

Giga Kick was the 3-5 favorite in early betting as of Thursday.

Trained by Clayton Douglas, Giga Kick won the $1 million All Aged Stakes by 1 3/4 lengths over Zaaki, who returned to win the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Sunshine Coast Racecourse earlier this month.

:: Get free past performances, analysis, and picks for Australian racing

The $1 million Doomben 10,000 will be Giga Kick’s fourth start at six furlongs. A closer, Giga Kick won the Everest Stakes at six furlongs and was later fifth by three-quarters of a length in the Group 1 VRC Classic at Flemington in November, and second by a half-length in the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes at Randwick in March at the distance.

Craig Williams will ride Giga Kick from post 4 in a field of 10 in the Doomben 10,000.

Aft Cabin, another Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old, poses a threat from off the pace. Trained by James Cummings, Aft Cabin has won 4 of 8 starts. The Doomben 10,000 will be his first start since a win in the Group 2 Arrowfield Stakes at six furlongs at Randwick on April 8.

Mazu, third in the Everest last October, but only sixth in the All Aged Stakes, won the 2022 Doomben 10,000 when the race was run at Eagle Farm Racecourse. The two courses are adjacent to each other in Brisbane, but Eagle Farm was used last year because of better drainage after storms.

Mazu has been beaten in his last seven starts.

Doomben has a nine-race program beginning at 9:48 p.m. Eastern or 6:48 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.