Latest news with #Group1ChampionsSprint
News.com.au
06-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
Star sprinter Giga Kick handed luxury weight in Group 1 The Goodwood in Adelaide
How does one of the world's highest-ranked sprinters receive weight from half of his rivals in a Group 1 race? Connections of many of Giga Kick 's rivals in The Goodwood at Morphettville would be asking the same question but Mornington trainer Clayton Douglas has the simple answer. 'Because he hasn't won a race for nearly two years, albeit he was nearly off for 12 months with an injury, he gets in so well at the weights,' Douglas said. 'It looks a very winnable race at the weights. If it was a handicap, it would be completely different.' The Goodwood is run under set weights and penalties conditions, which led to Giga Kick having 54.5kg to carry in Saturday's edition of Adelaide's biggest sprint. Giga Kick has the light weight despite finishing 2024 rated a point behind Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising and US sprinter Cogburn in the World's Best Racehorse Rankings. • The Goodwood final field and barrier draw Giga Kick won The Everest in 2022 and was narrowly beaten in last year's race but has not won since claiming the Group 1 Doomben 10,000 in 2023. Douglas said Giga Kick was poised to return to winning ways in The Goodwood. Giga Kick has had three jumpouts to prepare for his first start since the Group 1 Champions Sprint at Flemington last November. Douglas said the jumpouts ensured Giga Kick would be fit enough to win over 1200m first before leaving slight improvement for his second outing of the year in Brisbane. 'He'll be hard to beat,' Douglas said. 'He's been in work a long time so I've got no issues with him over 1200m, especially on the big track at Morphettville. 'He's probably only going to have a couple of runs in this campaign. 'The next is obviously the Kingsford Smith Stakes over 1300m in Brisbane so he's got the miles in his legs, that's for sure.' • MP pledges to keep up the fight for jumps racing at The 'Bool Giga Kick drew barrier 12 in the 13-horse field that will tackle the $1m sprint. Douglas said the draw would help, rather than hinder, Giga Kick's bid for a first-up win. 'That should suit him being drawn over there,' Douglas said. 'With the way Morphettville has been playing over the last few weeks, they have been getting away from the rail too. 'It's going to map perfectly. 'He'll probably amble through the first 600(m) and it will be game on from there.' Jockey Mark Zahra will get down to 54.5kg to ride Giga Kick in The Goodwood. Zahra dominated the Morphettville meeting on April 26, winning the Group 1 Australasian Oaks on Benagil and Group 1 Robert Sangster Stakes on Charm Stone. Ben Melham will ride Charm Stone in The Goodwood.
News.com.au
25-04-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
David Hayes slams Racing Victoria vet protocol ‘madness' that could prevent Everest favourite Ka Ying Rising from running at Flemington
– with Alex Donnelly Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising would need to pass Racing Victoria's veterinary protocols to race in Melbourne even if he won The Everest. Ahead of Ka Ying Rising's bid for a 12th consecutive win in the Group 1 Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin on Sunday, trainer David Hayes said it was 'madness' the world's highest-rated sprinter would need to undergo a compulsory CT scan in order to run at the Flemington carnival even if he pulled up well after the $20m The Everest at Randwick. Hayes said he would consider giving Ka Ying Rising another run in Australia if he was successful in The Everest with the Group 1 Champions Sprint (1200m) at Flemington the preferred option over the Russell Balding Stakes (1300m) at Rosehill. But as an international horse, Ka Ying Rising would need to be reassessed in Melbourne, which would include another CT scan, before being given clearance to race under Racing Victoria's safety standards. 'I would love to take him to Flemington,' Hayes said. 'I heard a rumour that he would need to be scanned again after The Everest to run in Victoria.' 'It is madness.' Hayes said Ka Ying Rising, who is a $2.30 favourite for The Everest, would be scanned before he departed Hong Kong for Sydney and another scan would be pointless. 'I haven't got my head around the all the protocols but we are happy to do the first scan before he leaves (Hong Kong) – tick, and you would think that would be enough,' he said. 'If you take a horse out of his quarantine for an unneeded scan and he is a last start winner, and the horses that he will be racing won't be (required to do it), it needs to be looked at. 'You don't have to scan a horse to see that it is sound.' All internationals wanting to race in Melbourne must complete Racing Victoria's tough vet procedures, which were introduced in 2021 after a spate of horse deaths in the Melbourne Cup. 'We make no apologies for setting a high safety benchmark with our veterinary protocols which were instituted based on industry and community concerns after an unacceptable run of serious injuries, particularly among visiting international horses,' a Racing Victoria spokesman said. Hayes, meanwhile, said Ka Ying Rising was 'four to five lengths better' than when he won the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint in December.
