One of Matt Cumani’s major ambitions as a trainer is to emulate his legendary father and win a Derby and the Ballarat trainer is confident he has found the horse who can provide one in Bengal Boy.
The progressive son of Dundeel did what few horses achieve and broke his maiden in a Stakes race when he proved too tough for his rivals in Saturday’s $200,000 Galilee Series Final at Sandown.
The 2400-metre Listed event has often been used as a launching pad to the Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m), which this year will be run on May 13, and Cumani said that Morphettville event was most likely where Bengal Boy was headed.
“A Derby is what we’ve always been aiming for,” Cumani said.
“The South Australian Derby, we’ve come third in it before and are yet to win one.
“A Derby is a race my father did very well in and I’d like to do it. We’ll start with the SA Derby and hopefully this horse is the right horse for it.”
Cumani’s father Luca is a legendary trainer in Europe, having won numerous feature races, including the Epsom Derby with Khayasi (1988) and High Rise (1998).
Cumani’s best Derby placing was his runner-up finish with Hit The Shot in the 2020 Victoria Derby, while he also produced Nobel Heights to finish third in the 2021 SA Derby won by Explosive Jack.
Bengal Boy looked every bit the Derby contender at Sandown, where he endured a wide trip but still fought when pressured by Midnight Glow to score a gritty win.
Under the urgings of resurgent jockey Billy Egan, Bengal Boy ($10) held a half-head margin over Midnight Glow ($5.50) with $2.35 betr favourite Northern Barrage 1-1/4 lengths away third.
“When he got posted a bit wide I thought, ‘he’s probably not going to get his best opportunity, ‘but he just went to sleep and it made no difference at all,” Egan said.
“He conserved himself so well for when that horse challenged him and he fought it off really well.”