Smooth sailing so far for Ellison’s raider

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Yorkshire-based trainer hatching plans to get his star stayer into the Flemington showpiece

Fate has often conspired against Brian Ellison in the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m), but the shrewd British trainer is confident he has found the right horse this year with Onesmoothoperator (Dialed In).

Thirteen years on from his last trip to Australia, Ellison is back in Melbourne in the company of his wife Claire – but the pair are not here simply for a holiday whilst daughter Jessica looks after the stables back home in Yorkshire. 

Back in 2011, Ellison had high hopes for his two Cup contenders Moyenne Corniche (Selkirk) and Saptapadi (Indian Ridge), only for both horses to draw the Flemington car park and finish down the field under jockeys Brett Prebble and Chris Symons respectively.

His first visit Down Under in 2005 was even more disappointing, as Carte Diamond (Theatrical) – who had made up good ground to finish ninth in the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) – was subsequently scratched from the Melbourne Cup after sustaining an injury on the eve of the great race. 

But Ellison insists that is now ancient history and is bullish when asked to assess the prospects of Onesmoothoperator, who touched down at Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport on Sunday morning. 

Indeed, the biggest conundrum Ellison currently faces is how he gets his Northumberland Plate (2m ½f ) hero to the start line at Flemington on the first Tuesday in November.  

Ahead of the first acceptances deadline on Tuesday, Onesmoothoperator sat 60th in the Melbourne Cup order of entry and so would need significant attrition to occur in order to gain a start in the $8 million showpiece. 

Ellison is therefore giving serious thought to running the northern hemisphere six-year-old in the Geelong Cup (Gr 3, 2400m), where victory – and a subsequent weight penalty – would significantly improve his chances of forcing his way in. 

Northumberland Plate king Onesmoothoperator has also made it to Australia! 🇦🇺 @BERacingLtd pic.twitter.com/pfYSVA3w8k

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) September 29, 2024

Were he to make it into the 24-runner field, Ellison has no doubt Onesmoothoperator would prove highly competitive, not least as he possesses that most valuable of equine traits – tactical speed.    

“He’s shown he can definitely handle the two-mile trip but if he was just an out and out stayer, we wouldn’t have brought him all the way out here,” Ellison told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“To be competitive in a race like the Melbourne Cup, you need to show a sharp turn of foot which not many horses can do at the end of two miles – but he can. So I definitely think he’s the right horse, he has that speed at the end of his races and I think he’d also be suited by how the race is usually run, because he likes a strong tempo.  

“He’s a very adaptable horse but he prefers fast, firm surfaces which you usually get at Flemington on Cup day. Of course you need a bit of luck in the Melbourne Cup, and we’ll need to have a bit of luck just to get into the race, but if we do then I’d be pretty confident that he’d run really well.

“He’s obviously had a great season back home and he’s just matured into a proper racehorse this year. I think we’ve found the key to him because we were probably guilty of over-racing him in the early days, but we’ve now worked out that he goes better fresh and he’s improved leaps and bounds. He broke the track record when he won the Northumberland Plate and some very good horses have won that race, so it shows you what he’s capable of.” 

Ellison’s confidence levels were elevated further when he was reunited with the gelding at Werribee Racecourse, where all international visitors wishing to compete in the Victorian Spring Racing Carnival are required to complete their mandatory two-week quarantine period. 

Having boarded the plane in the United Kingdom at 492 kilograms, Onesmoothoperator disembarked at Melbourne weighing eight kilograms heavier, which is unusual following such an arduous journey.        

“He travelled over brilliantly,” said Ellison. “We took him out for a walk when he got to Werribee and he ate up well overnight. I think he must’ve eaten pretty well on the flight too, so we couldn’t be happier with how he’s settled in.            

“He’ll have a very easy time of it over the next week or so, because he’s not a horse who needs a lot of fast work to build his fitness up. He’s a very clean-winded horse so he’ll only need two pieces of work to get ready to go to the races, wherever that may be. 

“It obviously all depends on how many fall away from the Melbourne Cup, if it looks like he’ll get a run then we’ll just go straight to Flemington. But if not, then we’ll head to Geelong and take our chances there. Hopefully if he can win the Geelong Cup he’ll get into the Melbourne Cup, but if not then we’ll run him in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Gr 3, 2600m) at Flemington on the Saturday after.

“His owner [Patrick Boyle] really wants to experience the Melbourne Cup and everything that goes on in the build-up to the race, so we hope for his sake and for ours that we do get into the field. After winning two big handicap races back home this season, he was really keen to have a crack at the Melbourne Cup so it would be great for everyone involved with the horse if we do get the chance to compete.”

As for the strength of this year’s overseas brigade, Ellison readily nominates the recent St Leger Stakes (Gr 1, 1m 6.5f) winner Jan Brueghel (Galileo) – who will bid to claim a first Melbourne Cup for his master trainer Aidan O’Brien – as the most dangerous potential rival Onesmoothoperator will face.   

“Any horse that can win a St Leger obviously has to be taken very seriously,” said Ellison. 

“Northern hemisphere three-year-olds have got a good recent record in the Melbourne Cup, so if he travels out here well you’d have to think Jan Brueghel has got a big chance. Vauban is a very good horse, but I’m not completely convinced that he stays two miles. So Jan Brueghel would probably have to be my top pick at this stage, but we’d love to get the chance to take him on.”