Giga Kick, the prized runner from Clayton Douglas's stable, has returned to Mornington after a hiatus, but Douglas is taking a cautious approach to his comeback, despite the horse being in training for nearly a month.
The son of Scissor Kick was sidelined since his third-place finish behind Imperatriz in the Group 2 McEwan Stakes (1000m) at Moonee Valley last September due to a hip injury sustained during the race, causing him to miss both last year's spring carnival and this year's autumn season.
Douglas commented on the unique nature of the injury, stating, “It was a very unique injury, but I'm glad we found it.”
He further explained, “Hopefully he's fine under full stress, but we won't know until we try him. He's been back at my place for nearly a month now.”
During this recovery period, Giga Kick has been engaged in conditioning work, including treadmill exercises and sessions on the water walker.
Regarding future plans, Douglas indicated a cautious approach, stating, “We've missed the boat with the TJ Smith and all the autumn stuff, and whether we go to Brisbane, I don't feel we will.”
He added, “He'll have a few trials and we'll get him to a certain stage and the spring will be our focus, but how I get there, I haven't worked out what he does.”
Douglas emphasized a forward-looking perspective, saying, “I'm not going to worry about the last 12 months, I'll just look forward with him.”
Concluding optimistically, he stated, “At the moment he's ticking all the boxes, so hopefully he keeps going that way.”