Written by Richard Edmunds
Cover image by George Salpigtidis courtesy of AAP Photos
Ballarat trainer Matt Cumani celebrated one of his most satisfying triumphs when Khoekhoe (Turffontein) came from nowhere to win Saturday’s $855,000 The Showdown at Caulfield.
In a training career that began only four years ago in April 2016, Cumani has saddled more than 150 winners including four at stakes level.
The majority of those successes have been with older horses and staying horses, including the G3 Lord Reims S. and Listed Pakenham Cup.
But 2-year-old success has always been high on Cumani’s wish list, and on Saturday he did it.
Khoekhoe as a yearling
Khoekhoe, a colt he picked out and bought for $50,000 at the 2019 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, earned almost 10 times that amount with a huge finishing burst to claim the second edition of The Showdown.
“It’s absolutely fantastic,” Cumani said. “It’s important in Australia to have good 2-year-olds, and I’ve been trying to prove that we can do it.
“We’ve had some success with 2-year-olds already, including at stakes level (the Listed Cinderella S. in Adelaide with Lady Naturaliste in March 2019). This isn’t a black-type race today, but it’s worth an awful lot of money. It’s just a fantastic result.
“We’ve had some success with 2-year-olds already, including at stakes level. This isn’t a black-type race today, but it’s worth an awful lot of money. It’s just a fantastic result." - Matt Cumani
“This is a horse we bought at the sales. We put a lot of work into finding good-value horses, and we thought this colt had a lovely pedigree – perhaps it didn’t have the black type, but there have been a lot of winners in the family. I thought he was just a standout horse at the sale, and I was thrilled that we got him.”
Cumani owns a share of Khoekhoe among a large group of owners, and the colt made his debut with a ninth at Ballarat on February 23. He scored an impressive come-from-behind win in his second start at Echuca on April 5, and Saturday was more of the same in the hands of jockey Fred Kersley.
“You dream of a horse like this,” Cumani said. “I was a bit worried after Echuca that perhaps he was flattered by the pace of the race and the better ground out wide, so to see him do that today is just unbelievable.
“I can’t thank everyone enough – my team, the group of owners in the horse, and Fred as well. He’s had a bit of drop-off in his rides recently, the poor guy, but I think he’s a fantastic rider.
"I thought Fred did a brilliant job. He was just waiting for the gap to arrive, and it opened perfectly for him. Then the horse did the rest.” - Matt Cumani
“What a horse. This is a very exciting time. I had two runners in the race, so I wasn’t sure where to look in the straight. But I thought Fred did a brilliant job. He was just waiting for the gap to arrive, and it opened perfectly for him. Then the horse did the rest.”
The Showdown is restricted to the 2-year-old progeny of VOBIS Sires-nominated stallions. Khoekhoe is by Turffontein, who stands at Blue Gum Farm for a service fee of $6600. He has sired 136 winners from 242 runners with six individual stakes winners.
Turffontein | Standing at Blue Gum Farm
