G1 contender injured, out for the year

Autumn Group 1 aspirations for Matt Cumani’s promising stayer Kingofwallstreet have been shattered, with the trainer confirming the Dundeel colt has sustained an injury and is likely to miss the remainder of 2025. The three-year-old, who finished fourth in the G1 Victoria Derby (2500m) last spring after winning the G3 Caulfield Classic (2000m), is now on box rest after injuring a tendon during a routine gallop.

“It’s very unfortunate and very disappointing for the whole team and all his owners,” Cumani told racing.com. “We were very excited about him going into the autumn, hoping he’d follow in the path of his father in not winning the Victoria Derby but then winning the Australian Derby.”

Cumani expressed surprise at the injury, given Kingofwallstreet’s compact and agile build. “We weren’t expecting it, as you often think perhaps a big, backwards horse might injure themself, but he’s always been a nice, compact, small, light-on-his-feet sort of horse,” he said. “Unfortunately, he’ll be out for a long time, but hopefully when he comes back as a four-year-old, he’ll be a horse that can really build on the promise that he showed as an early three-year-old. It won’t be spring, it will be next year. It was a soft-tissue injury but one that needs a considerable amount of rehab.”

While Kingofwallstreet’s campaign has been derailed, Cumani’s other leading three-year-old stayer, Cecchetti, is nearing a return to racing. The Fiorente colt, who missed a start in the Victoria Derby as an emergency but placed at Listed level over 1800m on Melbourne Cup Day, is showing promising signs. “He’s doing really well, he’s a lovely horse,” Cumani said. “He had a really impressive preparation last time for a horse that, when we bought him for $15,000, we thought would be a real late developer.”

Cumani indicated that while Cecchetti’s targets may not be as lofty as initially planned, the South Australian Derby remains a potential goal. “We probably won’t aim too high, but all options are on the table. I think the South Australian Derby has to be a target for him, perhaps the Chairmans before that,” he said.