Victoria Racing Club
SHOP
SHOP
Our vision and values VRC Board Contact us
Terms and Conditions Annual Reports Careers
The history of the VRC Track records and attendances Community programs
Race days and events Getting to Flemington Venue hire
Plan your visit Download the Flemington app Local residents event information FAQs
Race days and events Inside Run Jump Outs
Flemington Summer Racing Latest news Video news 23/24 Race day calendar VRC Punters Club Track and weather conditions Owner information Race programs and conditions About World Pool Group 1 Honour Roll Equine Welfare Bulletin Flemington trainers
Membership Login Renew my membership Become a member Refer a new member
VRC Members Hub VRC Member Events Membership categories Optional Membership products Reciprocal privileges 23/24 Race day calendar Membership FAQs VRC Full Membership Cap What to wear Member publications Annual General Meeting 2023
Melbourne Cup Carnival 2024 Relive Past Carnivals Inside Run
Penfolds Victoria Derby Day Lexus Melbourne Cup Day VRC Oaks Day TAB Champions Stakes Day
Lexus Melbourne Cup Tour 2023 Pin and Win 2023
Ad

From little-known entry to headline act for Giga Kick

18 October 2022 • Written by VRC

Giga Kick was the first horse entered for this year’s Melbourne Cup Carnival and now the unbeaten gelding – who only officially turns three on Wednesday – could become the headline act of Australia’s greatest racing event following his stunning victory in The Everest (1200m) last weekend.

However, whether he is seen at the start or the end of the four-day festival is a decision that will be eagerly anticipated by racing fans excited to see the new star of the turf in action.

The Clayton Douglas-trained Giga Kick was entered for the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) in early July, before even the first Lexus Melbourne Cup entries were taken. At the time, he was merely the winner of a Sale maiden.

Soon after, he returned with a 1000m win down the straight at Flemington at his first trip to Headquarters on a brisk day in mid-July before he demonstrated his potential with his win in the Group 3 Vain Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield. He backed that up with another stakes win at Flemington, taking the Group 2 HQ Tavern Danehill Stakes (1100m) in a tight finish on TAB Turnbull Stakes Day.

But while he was impressive and gritty against the boys, it was his ability to scorch home against the men and women of Australia’s sprinting ranks that won him plenty of new admirers.

On Saturday, he defeated some of the fastest horses in the land – including Group 1 winners Nature Strip, Private Eye, Mazu, Kementari, Masked Crusader, Eduardo and fellow three-year-old Jacquinot – to take out The Everest at Randwick, stamping himself as the next big drawcard in Australian racing. And, as a gelding, he is set to race on for years to come.

While the $2 million Coolmore Stud Stakes is the logical target for a three-year-old of his quality, Douglas is eyeing off an even bigger prize when he potentially lines up for a rematch with Nature Strip in the $3 million Group 1 VRC Darley Champions Sprint (1200m).

“Nature Strip is likely to go to the Champions Sprint on the last Saturday of the Melbourne Cup Carnival, we’re likely to go to the Coolmore a week before, but if we decide we want to give him another week, there’s a chance we’ll take on Nature Strip again,” he said.

“The three-year-old race is a set-weights race, and with his rating now he’d be very well handicapped and hard to beat. If we’re happy with him he’ll run in the Coolmore Stud Stakes, but we’re more than happy to meet Nature Strip again and I’ll make a call on Saturday. Maybe we run in both!”

The Coolmore Stud Stakes is one of three Group 1 races on Penfolds Victoria Derby Day on Saturday 29 October, while the VRC Darley Champions Sprint is one of three championship contests on TAB Champions Stakes Day on Saturday 5 November.

System.Web.HttpException (0x80004005): Error executing child request for handler 'System.Web.Mvc.HttpHandlerUtil+ServerExecuteHttpHandlerAsyncWrapper'. ---> System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at ASP._Page_Views_Partials_googleAd_cshtml.Execute()
   at System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy()
   at System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage.ExecutePageHierarchy()
   at System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy(WebPageContext pageContext, TextWriter writer, WebPageRenderingBase startPage)
   at System.Web.Mvc.RazorView.RenderView(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer, Object instance)
   at System.Web.Mvc.BuildManagerCompiledView.Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer)
   at Umbraco.Web.Mvc.ProfilingView.Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer) in D:\a\1\s\src\Umbraco.Web\Mvc\ProfilingView.cs:line 25
   at System.Web.Mvc.ViewResultBase.ExecuteResult(ControllerContext context)
   at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResult(ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultFilterRecursive(IList`1 filters, Int32 filterIndex, ResultExecutingContext preContext, ControllerContext controllerContext, ActionResult actionResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.ControllerActionInvoker.InvokeActionResultWithFilters(ControllerContext controllerContext, IList`1 filters, ActionResult actionResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.<>c__DisplayClass3_6.<BeginInvokeAction>b__4()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.<>c__DisplayClass3_1.<BeginInvokeAction>b__1(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResult`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncControllerActionInvoker.EndInvokeAction(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.<>c.<BeginExecuteCore>b__152_1(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ExecuteCoreState innerState)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecuteCore(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.<>c.<BeginExecute>b__151_2(IAsyncResult asyncResult, Controller controller)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Controller.System.Web.Mvc.Async.IAsyncController.EndExecute(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.<>c.<BeginProcessRequest>b__20_1(IAsyncResult asyncResult, ProcessRequestState innerState)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncVoid`1.CallEndDelegate(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Async.AsyncResultWrapper.WrappedAsyncResultBase`1.End()
   at System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at System.Web.Mvc.MvcHandler.System.Web.IHttpAsyncHandler.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result)
   at System.Web.Mvc.HttpHandlerUtil.ServerExecuteHttpHandlerAsyncWrapper.<>c__DisplayClass3_0.<EndProcessRequest>b__0()
   at System.Web.Mvc.HttpHandlerUtil.ServerExecuteHttpHandlerWrapper.<>c__DisplayClass5_0.<Wrap>b__0()
   at System.Web.Mvc.HttpHandlerUtil.ServerExecuteHttpHandlerWrapper.Wrap[TResult](Func`1 func)
   at System.Web.Mvc.HttpHandlerUtil.ServerExecuteHttpHandlerWrapper.Wrap(Action action)
   at System.Web.Mvc.HttpHandlerUtil.ServerExecuteHttpHandlerAsyncWrapper.EndProcessRequest(IAsyncResult result)
   at System.Web.HttpServerUtility.ExecuteInternal(IHttpHandler handler, TextWriter writer, Boolean preserveForm, Boolean setPreviousPage, VirtualPath path, VirtualPath filePath, String physPath, Exception error, String queryStringOverride)
   at System.Web.HttpServerUtility.ExecuteInternal(IHttpHandler handler, TextWriter writer, Boolean preserveForm, Boolean setPreviousPage, VirtualPath path, VirtualPath filePath, String physPath, Exception error, String queryStringOverride)
   at System.Web.HttpServerUtility.Execute(IHttpHandler handler, TextWriter writer, Boolean preserveForm, Boolean setPreviousPage)
   at System.Web.HttpServerUtility.Execute(IHttpHandler handler, TextWriter writer, Boolean preserveForm)
   at System.Web.HttpServerUtilityWrapper.Execute(IHttpHandler handler, TextWriter writer, Boolean preserveForm)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Html.ChildActionExtensions.ActionHelper(HtmlHelper htmlHelper, String actionName, String controllerName, RouteValueDictionary routeValues, TextWriter textWriter)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Html.ChildActionExtensions.Action(HtmlHelper htmlHelper, String actionName, String controllerName, RouteValueDictionary routeValues)
   at Our.Umbraco.DocTypeGridEditor.Web.Extensions.HtmlHelperExtensions.RenderDocTypeGridEditorItem(HtmlHelper helper, IPublishedElement content, String editorAlias, String viewPath, String previewViewPath, Boolean isPreview)
   at ASP._Page_app_plugins_doctypegrideditor_render_DocTypeGridEditor_cshtml.Execute()
   at System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy()
   at System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage.ExecutePageHierarchy()
   at System.Web.WebPages.WebPageBase.ExecutePageHierarchy(WebPageContext pageContext, TextWriter writer, WebPageRenderingBase startPage)
   at System.Web.Mvc.RazorView.RenderView(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer, Object instance)
   at System.Web.Mvc.BuildManagerCompiledView.Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer)
   at Umbraco.Web.Mvc.ProfilingView.Render(ViewContext viewContext, TextWriter writer) in D:\a\1\s\src\Umbraco.Web\Mvc\ProfilingView.cs:line 25
   at System.Web.Mvc.HtmlHelper.RenderPartialInternal(String partialViewName, ViewDataDictionary viewData, Object model, TextWriter writer, ViewEngineCollection viewEngineCollection)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Html.PartialExtensions.Partial(HtmlHelper htmlHelper, String partialViewName, Object model, ViewDataDictionary viewData)
   at System.Web.Mvc.Html.PartialExtensions.Partial(HtmlHelper htmlHelper, String partialViewName, Object model)
   at ASP._Page_Views_Partials_grid_editors_Base_cshtml.Execute()

Related News

Durston re-handicapped for Lexus Melbourne Cup

Durston re-handicapped for Lexus Melbourne Cup

17 October 2022

Road To The Melbourne Cup Carnival

Road To The Melbourne Cup Carnival

15 October 2022

Internationals step out at Werribee

Internationals step out at Werribee

14 October 2022

Discover All News