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2022 The Everest Winner Giga Kick | Photo: Steve Hart | Races.com.au

The Everest Winner Giga Kick Returns in 2023 Challenge Stakes Field

Lucy Henderson March 3, 2023

The Everest Winner Giga Kick Returns in 2023 Challenge Stakes Field

The spring’s $15 million The Everest winner Giga Kick is back this weekend racing first-up in a small field at Royal Randwick in the 2023 Challenge Stakes.

2022 The Everest Winner Giga Kick | Photo: Steve Hart | Races.com.au

The Everest champion Giga Kick kicks off his autumn campaign in Saturday’s 2023 Challenge Stakes in Sydney. Photo: Steve Hart.

The Group 2 $500,000 Challenge Stakes (1000m) serves as one of the key support acts on Saturday’s bumper 10-race Randwick Guineas Day card and features just nine sprinters.

Among the top chances in gate four with Craig Williams to ride is the Clayton Douglas-trained son of Scissor Kick Giga Kick getting his autumn underway.

A winner of five of his six starts to date the classy chestnut is best known for his narrow upset at 20/1 in The Everest at Randwick over the 1200m last October.

At his latest start he finished under a length third down the Flemington straight when fifth to Roch ‘N’ Horse in the Group 1 VRC Sprint Classic (1200m).

Giga Kicked looked good in a recent trial behind Coolangatta and now heads Challenge Stakes betting at $2.60 through Ladbrokes.com.au having been well supported early.

He is out to be the first three-year-old Challenge Stakes winner since the filly English (2016).

In a wide-open Challenge Stakes market, a further four runners are under double-figures for the win including the Hawkes Racing-trained Remarque ($4.20) in gate six with Brenton Avdulla riding.

The consistent Snitzel four-year-old has the fitness edge of his resuming rivals and has a strong record at the Randwick track (5:2-0-1).

He comes off a win at the track and distance carrying 62kg to victory on February 4 and will appreciate coming back to 58.5kg here at weight-for-age as he rises notably in grade.

Looking to become the third three-time Challenge Stakes winner in history is the dual defending champion Eduardo at $5.

Razor Sharp (1982-84) and At Sea (1985-87) both won three straight editions of the event and Joe Pride’s veteran nine-year-old Eduardo is looking to join them.

The old marvel boasts a 50% winning strike-rate from eight previous 1000m runs and is looking for his first success since carting 60.5kg to victory first-up in the Group 3 Concorde Stakes (1000m) here in September last year.

He has work to do however if he is to turn the table on Giga Kick after running a disappointing second last (11th of 12th) in last year’s The Everest.

Eduardo finished sixth last time out behind Private Eye in the $3 million Winners Stakes (1300m) in late October and come into the Challenge Stakes off two good lead-up Randwick trials in February.

The James Cummings-trained Paulele is also first-up and being kept safe in betting at Challenge Stakes odds of $6.

James McDonald is in typically top form this season and partners the Godolphin-raced Dawn Approach four-year-old.

Paulele is a genuine Randwick specialist (7:5-0-2) and is back in Sydney having last been seen overcoming a wide alley in Perth’s Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) to win the spring last November.

The early Challenge Stakes market mover rounding out the hopes under $10 for the win is then the Grahame Begg-trained Passive Aggressive ($12 into $8.50).

The four-year-old Fastnet Rock mare is only lightly-raced having won four of her five career starts.

She rises in class and races for the first time since her close fourth to Chain Of Lightning in the Group 3 Cockram Stakes (1200m) in August last year.

The 2023 Challenge Stakes is set to run as Randwick Race 6 at 3:20pm (AEDT) with full markets thanks to Ladbrokes.com.au available by clicking here.

2023 Challenge Stakes Final Field & Barrier Draw

No Last 10 Horse Trainer Jockey Barrier Weight Probable Weight Penalty Hcp Rating
1 x312x1406x EDUARDO Joseph Pride Nash Rawiller 8 58.5kg 117
2 322x61801x PAULELE James Cummings James McDonald 5 58.5kg 112
3 0x55x118x1 REMARQUE Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes Brenton Avdulla 6 58.5kg 102
4 0x709702x8 SHELBY SIXTYSIX Danny Williams Robbie Dolan 7 58.5kg 95
5 8073×45121 THE BOPPER Kris Lees Zac Purton 1 58.5kg 93
6 2424x126x7 KEY LARGO Bryce Heys Tyler Schiller (a) 2 58.5kg 82
7 1111x4x PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE Grahame Begg Jordan Childs 9 56.5kg 90
8 1x11115x GIGA KICK Clayton Douglas Craig Williams 4 56kg 110
9 475×112125 SACRED SATONO (NZ) Bruce Wallace & Grant Cooksley Chad Schofield 3 56kg 88

Table Credit: Racing Australia. 

Racing fields and data are copyright 2011-2021 © Racing Australia Pty Ltd (RA) (and other parties working with it).
Racing materials, including fields, form and results, is subject to copyright which is owned by RA and other parties working with it. Full copyright notice.

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