Giga Kick will become the third highest-rated runner to contest The Goodwood this Saturday.
Giga Kick will be in good company just by turning up at Morphettville this Saturday.
The Clayton Douglas-trained gelding is the headline act of the $1 million The Goodwood and sits behind only two horses when it comes to highest-rated horses to contest the 1200-metre Group 1 since it became a set-weights-and-penalties event in 2007.
They are Hall of Famers Black Caviar and Takeover Target.
Black Caviar headed to Adelaide rated 136 on the Racing And Sports Rating scale in 2012 and won The Goodwood, while Takeover Target's final win came in the 2009 The Goodwood, the start after running a career peak 128 in the T J Smith Stakes.
Giga Kick enters Saturday's race with a peak rating of 126, which he ran in his All Aged Stakes win over Zaaki and Cascadian in April 2023.
Despite that, he gets into Saturday's race with just 54.5kg.
The Goodwood penalties apply to a horse's performances since the start of the 2023/24 season, which was almost three months after Giga Kick's most recent win – in the 2023 Doomben 10,000.
Only winning performances are eligible to be penalised with the winner of any Group 1 race, or any non-Black-Type race or Restricted Listed race in excess of the value of $1 million, to carry 4kg extra.
Although defeated, Giga Kick banked more than $3 million for his second placing in last year's The Everest, when beaten a head by Bella Nipotina.
He ran to a RAS Rating of 122 in that event, which dwarfs the peak numbers run by his Morphettville rivals.
The best rating put up by any other runner in The Goodwood is 115.
Stretan Angel has run that figure on three occasions, Sghirripa ran 115 to win last year's Group 3 Standish Handicap, while Climbing Star was a 115 winner of last year's Group 1 Sangster Stakes.
Climbing Star is joint topweight with fellow mare Charm Stone at 56.5kg, half-a-kilo more than Sghirripa, while Stretan Angel has to give Giga Kick half-a-kilo.
Had The Goodwood been a handicap, as it was from its inception in 1881 to 2006, Climbing Star and Stretan Angel would get 6.5kg off Giga Kick, Charm Stone 6kg and Sghirripa 5kg.
Giga Kick was a $2.10 chance on Wednesday, which has him poised to start the third shortest-priced favourite in a SWP The Goodwood, behind only the two higher-rating runners to have run in the race.
Black Caviar was a $1.10 when she won, while Takeover Target won at $1.90.
Black Heart Bart, who won at $2.60 in 2016, is the only other favourite to score since 2007 with Benedetta last year snapping a run of six-straight winners at double-figures when she won as a $6 chance.
