Superior horses, no matter in what stage of their preparation, can scare rivals off before they even face the starter.
Black Caviar did it. In seventeen of the champion’s twenty-five starts the field size was less than ten runners.
Winx did it. In her last twenty-four starts, Winx faced less than ten rivals on no less than twenty-one occasions, most notably when only Black Hart Bart and He Or She were prepared to go up against the Chris Waller trained superstar in the 2016 Caulfield Stakes.
While it obviously cannot be said that Giga Kick in is that overall league just yet, it can be argued that his presence in Saturday’s McEwen Stakes is an obvious factor behind the reason that only seven runners are due to take their place in the 1000m, Group 2 sprint at Moonee Valley.
Seven wins out of ten and 9.5 million banked in prize-money … albeit $6.2 million of that coming courtesy of last year’s Everest win … can build an aura around a horse that some rivals will find intimidating.
And while some of his southern counterparts have opted out of a clash with Giga Kick, two Queensland stables have taken up the challenge … and neither Rothfire or Zoustyle is without a chance.
The Robert Heathcote trained Rothfire is very much in the mould of Heathcote’s supreme former stable star, the multiple Queensland Horse Of the Year winner Buffering.
There is no let-up in Rothfire. You want to finish ahead of him, you have got to earn that result yourself.
He will give his all and not give ground lightly, as was so evident in his four runs over the Queensland Winter Carnival in a set of results which included a win in the Group 2 Victory Stakes and, even more impressive, a runner-up finish to the exceptional Think About It in the Group 1 Stradbroke.
Rothfire, like Giga Kick and Zoustyle, is first-up in the McEwen, and he brings a first-up record of five wins and one second placing from eight first-up starts into the race. He will also be defending his McEwen crown having won the race last year when beating his fellow Queenslander Zoustyle by 0.75 lengths.
On that day both of these Queenslanders upstaged the dominant favourite Coolangatta.
Are they hatching another upset plan?
The Tony Gollan trained Zoustyle’s form last preparation was arguably disappointing, but two of his three starts there were in the Oakleigh Plate and the Galaxy, both tough, Group 1 races.
A five-month break from race action … and an imposing first-up record in which he has won five of his ten first-up runs means that this son of Zoustar cannot be counted out of proceedings, although at eight years of age, the age factor might be put in the debit column when compared to the likes Giga Kick, who is four years younger than the Gollan trained runner, and Rothfire, who is a six-year-old.
Also looking to make her presence felt in the McEwen match-up is the super impressive Imperatriz (a winner of no less than thirteen out of nineteen starts, including a win at Moonee Valley in the Group 1 William Reid, Acromantula, a last start winner who brings a Western Australia representation into play, Seradress, who finished fifth but only two lengths behind Royal Merchant in the Group 1 Goodwood last start, and How’s The Serenity, another previous Western Australia performer, a nine-time winner, now with the Hawkes training team.
Most will believe it is still Giga Kick’s race to win or lose.
Either way, it should be a rousing contest.
