Flemington straight to bring out best in I’mateez

I'mateez is the younger half-brother to 10-time Group 1 winner Imperatriz and to date has only two wins from seven starts with three minor placings.

In the care of Alex Rae at Cranbourne, I'mateez will be shooting for his maiden city success when his contests the Rod Johnson Handicap (1100m) at Flemington on Saturday.

Imperatriz had Group 1 success down the Flemington straight, winning the VRC Champions Sprint (1200m) and the Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) while also running second in a Yulong Newmarket Handicap (1200m).

Rae hopes running in a straight line will help I'mateez who has been plagued by niggling problems throughout his seven-start career.

After a first-up win at Geelong in April, Rae took I'mateez to Warrnambool for the May Carnival but came home disappointed.

"He's got a few soundness issues which have pulled him up," Rae said.

"Immediately after the race we thought the 1200 (metres) saw him out, but on reflection he wasn't himself and it took us a good couple of weeks to get him over the run, physically.

"We thought the rain-affected ground was going to be the key with him, then we ran him on rain-affected ground, on a heavy deck, and he pulled up the same.

"He's got his issues, but we've ironed them out at the moment."

Rae took I'mateez to Sale last week for a jump-out over 800m which the gelding won.

He said I'mateez had recovered well from that, and it will give the stable an indication of where the gelding is at in his racing.

"The straight is going to keep him nice and balanced, and he seems to be going really well," Rae said.

"We took him down to Sale last week for a bit of a blowout and he's ready to run, so at least we'll see where he fits in the mix and whether he's up to metropolitan standard at this time of the year.

"He was a $200,000 yearling and probably a three-quarter-of-a-million-dollar horse if he didn't have his ailments.

"We've had to manage him, and the owners have been patient, but the talent is there."