A YEAR ago, Speed Gifted was treading water in England, competing in low-grade races, winning twice from eight starts and earning just $45,000 in prizemoney.
After carving through the rain at Randwick on Saturday to win the group 1 Metropolitan, the six-year-old is favourite to win both the Melbourne and Caulfield cups.
It is an extraordinary turnaround, and Speed Gifted is now the talk of Australian racing - much to the delight of trainer Lee Freedman and jockey Dwayne Dunn.
Even Racing Victoria Limited's Greg Carpenter admitted yesterday that Speed Gifted was a very difficult horse to weight for this year's cups.
''It was really hard to get a grip on him as his form in the UK was only very, very average, but [when] he won first-up at Flemington you knew there was more to this horse than met the eye,'' Carpenter said.
Carpenter this morning can ease the mind of Speed Gifted's French owner by giving the horse a substantial penalty for both cups, thereby guaranteeing him a start.
Speed Gifted was yesterday floated back to Melbourne where Freedman will plan his assault on the Caulfield Cup.
''I spoke to Corey Brown last night and he was very, very enthusiastic about the horse's performance at Randwick,'' said Freedman yesterday.
''Not only did he think he had the race won a long way out but he believes that if the horse hadn't stargazed and continually looked at the crowd with 200 metres to go he could have probably won by another five lengths.
''He's got that extra something, he can stay and he's got a good turn of foot at the end of his races - the exact make-up you want coming into a Caulfield Cup and Melbourne Cup.''
Late on Saturday afternoon while Sydney was being saturated by torrential rain, renowned racing manager Duncan Grimley was placing a call to England.
For racing managers this call was the exception to the rule. It wasn't to report news of a cracked cannon bone or a wind problem, but to speak with friend and fellow racing manager Patrick Cooper, who was inspecting yearlings at the saleyards.
Some months ago, Cooper contacted Grimley regarding two horses owned by his major client, Jean Marc Charmat, a French businessman who was sending the horses to Australia and wanted Grimley to manage them.
One of them was Speed Gifted.
''I got hold of Patrick and told him the good news that we looked like making the Caulfield Cup and even the Melbourne Cup, but we'll know more on Monday when the handicapper hands out a penalty,'' he said.
Cooper immediately contacted Charmat in Paris to tell him the good news. ''He rang me back and [told me] Charmat was totally speechless at what Speed Gifted had achieved,'' he said.
''I think gauging from that he'll be in Melbourne for the Caulfield Cup perhaps, or even the Melbourne Cup, but all round it's been a very satisfying result.''
Charmat had become frustrated at the lack of success and the time it was taking Speed Gifted to recognise his true ability after he had paid $A200,000 for the horse at the yearling sales in England in 2005.
''The horse wasn't doing much, according to Patrick Cooper,'' Grimley said. ''Of course, trainers in England give horses so much more time than [in] Australia, but it didn't seem to be working. I think they just wanted another avenue for the horse to realise its potential.''
Freedman was in England gathering a team of stayers and Cooper and Charmat decided to send two horses. The other one went amiss.
Grimley said that Speed Gifted's remarkable improvement had come as a surprise to connections. ''We thought plan A would be to win the Naturalism [Stakes at Caulfield] and he would have overcome all of the hurdles about getting into the Caulfield Cup,'' he said.
''But once he drew off the track his chances dwindled, but he still showed plenty of heart to finish where he did.''
from www.theage.com.au
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