A nothing bred horse almost sold for $20,000 won The Everest and ended up a high class sprinting sensation

The Aussie battler of the horse racing world, Giga Kick is an animal that defied the odds. The Group 1 and Everest winner was sired by an unfashionable stallion who now calls Tunisia home, cheated death after being born, survived a yearling sale, had multimillion-dollar sale offers knocked back and found himself in the unproven Douglas stable through a twist of fate. And the remarkable thing is that as a young horse the vets couldn't even get a catheter into him to help ease the immense pain of a colic attack.

Since then, Giga Kick has gone on to become a wonder racehorse, defying not just death, but his lowly pedigree too. At just four-years of age he already sits ninth on the Australian All-Time Money Earning List, which is headed by freak of nature Winx at $26.5 million. He quite easily could have gone through the Scone sale and it would have changed someone's life if some little bloke had picked him for under $20,000.

All that aside, Giga Kick's rise from a lowly-bred animal to potential record setter has been perhaps the greatest rags to riches story in Australia's storied racing past. His father, Scissor Kick, was so average as a stallion that he was sold off to a farm in Tunisia for pittance. There he served a few mares a year. As for the champ's mother, Rekindled Applause, she also was lowly bred and in fact never even raced. When Scissor Kick covered her she was an 18-year-old, way past standard breeding age and in human terms she would have been 60 years old.

Giga Kick, therefore, should never have been conceived, should not have survived the colic attack and when he did go to sale with a $20,000 reserve, his owner, Owen Munz thought at the last moment - no, why bother, I'll just keep him.

Trainer, Clayton Douglas was only new to the training ranks then at 27 years of age, and only had a handful of average horses on his books. He thought the baldy-faced Giga Kick would fit in quite nicely. His very first start was in a two-year-old maiden worth just $19,000 to the winner, and ridden by Jamie Kah he took off from gate-rise and led them a merry dance to win by four lengths. It had been an impressive debut but no-one could have seen what was to follow and surely will still unfold. Giga Kick raced again as a two-year-old, this time at Flemington, which is a huge rise in class from Sale and won there by over a length. 

Buoyed by this early unexpected success, Douglas spelled him, then brought him back as an early three-year-old. After a further trial, Giga Kick won the Gr.3 Vain Stakes - Douglas' first stakes victory. Five lengths behind at the turn, he won by a long head. At this stage he was still an immature type with immense talent and improvement to come. On 1 October 2022, Giga Kick won the Danehill Stakes. Jumping as odd-on favourite, jockey Craig Williams looked to be under pressure from Buenos Noches from the 300m mark all the way until the finish line, but hung on "to win by a nostril". Giga Kick won two races within his age group meaning he was four from four when the world's richest turf race, The Everest over 1200m at Randwick loomed. 

Owner Munz, a magnate who owns a stud farm and who recently purchased a Toorak mansion for $14million, told Douglas to have a throw at the stumps.

Despite being unbeaten, his wins were in restricted company and nowhere near worthy of being in the same class as say the favourite in The Everest, Nature Strip who had been to England earlier in the year, trounced Europe's best there and came home rated the fastest sprinter on the planet. The superstar speedsters took off and he trailed behind until they turned for home. Calling on his late-race rallying prowess Giga Kick swooped with a dazzling burst of speed late claiming Nature Street and the rest of the field near home and won. Giga Kick was then set to miss the Autumn after tearing a muscle between his hamstring and his hip.The troublesome injury, located deep in the gluteal muscle originated from the 3rd to Imperatriz in the McEwen Stakes at Moonee Valley during last years spring. The aim was to give the horse a fair period off to get him back early spring, give him a couple of runs before The Everest.

In 2024 Giga Kick resumed with a couple of underwhelming runs in the spring, but threw down an awesome challenge to eventual The Everest winner, Bella Nipotina. Closing fast the gelding charged to the line in the $20 million Randwick feature, only just missing short of the line. It was a form of redemption for Clayton Douglas and his horse, proving he still possessed those remarkable sprinting abilities that allowed him to win the 2022 version of the race. Despite running 40 less races than Bella Nipotina, Giga Kick has now amassed over $12 million in stake earnings and is considered one of the great sprinters of the 2020s.

RACE RECORD - 14: 7-2-2

EARNINGS - A$12,039,950

The Everest (2022)

2nd The Everest (2024)

Danehill Stakes (2022)

Vain Stakes (2022)

All Aged Stakes (2023)

Doomben 10,000 (2023)

Australian Champion Sprinter (2023)

Australian Champion 3YO Colt/Gelding (2023)