The established champion Nature Strip and heir apparent Giga Kick are set for a rematch when they meet at Flemington.
Giga Kick kept his unbeaten record intact when he won The Everest at Randwick last month to give his trainer Clayton Douglas his biggest success and in the process relegate Nature Strip into fourth position.
The pair meet again in the Group 1 Champions Sprint (1200m) on Saturday with Chris Waller and Nature Strip looking to exact revenge from that defeat three weeks ago.
Waller says Nature Strip is the underdog for Saturday’s race despite being an odds-on favourite with TAB while Douglas is still pinching himself following The Everest victory and cannot believe he has a genuine Group 1 contender so early in his training career.
Unbeaten to date, Waller said Giga Kick could be the next Black Caviar while on his trip to Sydney for The Everest Douglas was excited to see Nature Strip in the flesh for the first time.
“Clayton’s horse has done a terrific job. It’s unbeaten, it could be the next Black Caviar,” Waller said.
“But our horse is very well, everyone knows him for what he is.
“It’s great to see Giga Kick coming through, Bella Nipotina, it is what people want to see.
“They want to see the champions, they want to see the new champions because everyone has their favourites and that’s horse racing.
“You need to have a little bit of luck, things need to go right, so let’s hope Nature Strip does us proud.”
Douglas said he holds a lot of respect for Waller’s horse and hopes Giga Kick, being a gelding, has the same longevity as Nature Strip.
Nature Strip has won 22 of his 40 starts with more than $20 million in prize money while Giga Kick is unbeaten in five runs and has banked more than $7.1 million.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for the great champ,” Douglas said.
“Especially for Chris and to think that I’m sitting beside him at the age I am talking about a $3 million Group 1, it’s unreal.
“To get that Group 1 status at such a young age, would be a great achievement, not only myself, but also for my horse.
“He’s such a nice horse and he’s done nothing wrong to date and I’m really looking forward to the future with him as well.
“He’s a gelding and hopefully he’s got a few more years left in him, and he can keep rising to the top.”