Successful French owner Jean-Marc Charmat is hoping to do what his English trainer Luca Cumani couldn't and win a Melbourne Cup after Speed Gifted made a spectacular Australian debut at Flemington on Saturday.The former Cumani-trained stayer joined the Lee Freedman stable in February and was having his first start under 2400 metres when he charged home from third last to score a stunning 2-1/2 length win over Count To Zero and Scenic Scene in the AGL Renewable Energy Trophy (1620m).Cumani, who h

Successful French owner Jean-Marc Charmat is hoping to do what his English trainer Luca Cumani couldn't and win a Melbourne Cup after Speed Gifted made a spectacular Australian debut at Flemington on Saturday.

The former Cumani-trained stayer joined the Lee Freedman stable in February and was having his first start under 2400 metres when he charged home from third last to score a stunning 2-1/2 length win over Count To Zero and Scenic Scene in the AGL Renewable Energy Trophy (1620m).

Cumani, who has trained second placegetters Purple Moon and Bauer in the last two Melbourne Cups, got Speed Gifted to win twice in eight starts in England with the gelding's most notable performances thirds over 2414 metres in both the Listed Godolphin Stakes at Newmarket and the Listed Hildon Tapster at Goodwood.

The son of Montjeu was a pick-up for the Freedman stable when Anthony Freedman and stable vet John Walker last year scouted England looking for suitable Melbourne Cup horses.

Six horses were bought for the stable's Ball and Chain Syndicate for prices ranging from 35,000 to 75,000 guineas, but Charmat, who has a large team of horses with Cumani, also expressed interest in Freedman's quest to win a sixth Melbourne Cup.

"We bought six horses and Speed Gifted was one of two horses we picked up as well," stable manager Sam Pritchard-Gordon said.

Speed Gifted is the fifth of the eight English horses to race for Freedman and the first to win.

"It is nice to see him win here on this course," Pritchard-Gordon said.

"Obviously we have a game plan in mind now he has proved he can handle Australian racing."

Jockey Dwayne Dunn said Speed Gifted had been the least impressive of the English horses on the training track but he had the Flemington race won a long way from home.

"It was pretty impressive the way he towed me up to them," Dunn said.

"He was going to beat them a long way out and he's a horse who gets 2400 metres so hopefully he has bigger and better things to do."

Pritchard-Gordon said the stable had good reason to look forward to the spring.

"When a horse comes from the Cumani stable you don't expect to improve them but when he came off the bit he really did actually quicken which is probably what he's not been allowed to do in the UK where they roll along from a lot further out," Pritchard-Gordon said.

"It is very exciting."

Pritchard-Gordon said that at this stage the Ball and Chain Syndicate horses were not in the same class as Speed Gifted but the stable was optimistic about their prospects.

"They are an echelon below him but with natural improvement they will be able to start paying their way," he said.

"Four of the six have already run with mixed results but that was what we were expecting.

"At this moment in time we are very happy because all six look as if they are going to get to the races."