LEE Freedman is confident he can revive the fortunes of last year's one-time Caulfield and Melbourne cups favourite Speed Gifted, believing the hot autumn weather was the horse's undoing when last in work, reports The Age.It says: Speed Gifted, along with Doctor Fremantle and Fanjura, is likely to step out for Freedman in Saturday's group 2 Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington. All three imported stayers are being aimed at the major cups. Last spring, Speed Gifted raced into cups calculations with h
LEE Freedman is confident he can revive the fortunes of last year's one-time Caulfield and Melbourne cups favourite Speed Gifted, believing the hot autumn weather was the horse's undoing when last in work, reports The Age.
It says: Speed Gifted, along with Doctor Fremantle and Fanjura, is likely to step out for Freedman in Saturday's group 2 Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington. All three imported stayers are being aimed at the major cups. Last spring, Speed Gifted raced into cups calculations with his effortless win in the Metropolitan Handicap in Sydney.
''I know his form tapered off after he came back to Melbourne from Sydney but I think we were still working him out,'' Freedman said yesterday. ''But then in Sydney during the autumn we got a closer insight into him. He had three hard runs in a row and he would arrive at the races sweating badly. He just seemed to struggle in the heat of Sydney and his preparation just fell apart.
''We went back and had a look at his English record and found that he's a horse that needs his races spaced. But the Speed Gifted from last year would give a race like [the Makybe Diva Stakes] a real shake,'' Freedman said.
Luke Nolen will ride Speed Gifted and Dwayne Dunn will be aboard Fanjura, who is unbeaten in his two starts in Australia.