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Three-year-old using race as dress rehearsal for Queensland Derby 

Trainer Matt Cumani wants to see Khoekhoe (Turffontein) back to something like his best when he runs in Saturday’s Rough Habit Plate (Gr 3, 2000m) before committing to a start in the Queensland Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) at Eagle Farm on May 29.

Khoekhoe ran fifth in the Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) and Cumani was hoping for a soft ride in behind the speed when the colt was dropped back in trip for the Frank Packer Plate (Gr 3, 2000m) at Randwick on April 24. 

Unfortunately, Khoekhoe was ridden too handy and eventually dropped out to finish second-last in the eight-horse field. 

"His three-year-old year is coming to an end," Cumani said. 

"Ideally, I would like a little bit more time to figure him out to see if that was a once off in Sydney, or whether it forms part of a character shift. 

"He's a horse that used to race beautifully in behind at the back and finish off well.  

"That's the way his best races were run and won and that's what I would like to get him back to.

"I can't risk going into a 2400-metre race and have him doing a similar thing, so we're looking at the Rough Habit, at Doomben," Cumani said. 

"Hopefully they'll truck along a bit quicker there and at a pace he will be a bit more comfortable with and a pace that he can drop back in. 

"Then we'll be able to make a definitive answer on whether we start in the Derby after that. 

"And if it doesn't work, he can spell up in Queensland in the winter warmth."