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Speed Gifted out as NZ horses gear up for Melbourne Cup

Posted on 28/10 by Marc J

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 Melbourne Cup entry Speed Gifted has been pulled out of the race amidst concerns from trainer Lee Freedman and stable racing manager Sam Pritchard-Gordon.

Pritchard-Gordon told Sportal.com the horse pulled up sore after finishing 12^th in the Cox Plate and would immediately go to the paddock and be spelled until the autumn.

He commented: "You need to be 100 per cent going into a race like the Cup and he definitely won't win, so we had little option but to pull the pin."

Echoing these sentiments, jockey Dwayne Dunn said after the Cox Plate: "He just didn’t handle at all today. It was a bit too hard for him I think."

The imported galloper's departure leaves the field open for New Zealand-trained contenders Capecover and Gallions Reach.

Other Kiwi-runners to watch include Daffodil (the darling of the NZ betting market), Harris Tweed, Spin Around and Six O’Clock News.

However, favourites for the $5.6m, 3200m race at Flemington are New Zealand-bred Efficient and last year’s Cup winner and this year’s Caulfield Cup winner, Viewed.

Viewed is one of Cummings' horses, entered alongside Roman Emperor and Allez Wonder.

Sportsbet places Efficient and Alcopop at 6.00, Viewed at 7.00 and Roman Emperor at 12.00.


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