English trainer Roger Charlton leaves Melbourne for the second time with expenses covered for the Melbourne Cup campaign of Quest For More.

The Damian Lane ridden gelding finished ninth in Tuesday's race, earning connections $125,000 in prize money.

Charlton, who first visited Melbourne as a "ten pound Pom" 46 years ago, was making his first trip since and vows to return.

It was a rushed trip for the trainer who was at the Breeders' Cup meeting in the United States on Sunday morning (AEDT) before arriving in Australia in time for the Melbourne Cup parade on Monday.

While not offering excuses, Charlton said with some clear running the gelding would have finished closer.

"I thought he ran very well," Charlton said.

"He hasn't been beaten far by horses that have his form, Max Dynamite (second), Trip To Paris (fourth) and Big Orange (fifth), so we're pleased.

"If he had more space he would have been two lengths closer, but we're not using that as an excuse."

Snow Sky has continued Sir Michael Stoute's poor record in the Cup, finishing in 23rd position under Ryan Moore.

It was Stoute's first visit since 2005 when Distinction finished 19th behind Makybe Diva after finishing sixth behind the great mare a year earlier.

His only other runner was Daliapour who was 16th behind Media Puzzle in 2002.

Snow Sky was in a striking position with 300m to run but suffered interference at that point and was eased out of the race over the final stages.

Fame Game was sent out the $5 favourite after his eye-catching Caulfield Cup run but the Japanese stayer was a never a factor from the time the field jumped.

Jockey Zac Purton blamed a lack of proper tempo for Fame Game finishing 5-1/2 lengths from the winner in 13th place.

Fellow Japanese representative Hokko Brave was a length behind in 17th place.

Aidan O'Brien's two runners finished close to each other with Bondi Beach in 16th place and Kingfisher in 19th.