Brian Ellison's stable star Onesmoothoperator has been given the go-ahead to run in next Saturday's Geelong Cup to bolster his chances of getting into the 'race that stops a nation' at Flemington in November.
Onesmoothoperator is currently 42nd in the Melbourne Cup order of entry. Should he win the Geelong Cup and incur a 1kg penalty, that would elevate him to 31st position in the order of entry on current standings which should be enough for a start in the race given expected attrition between now and the finalisation of the Melbourne Cup field.
"He's going to run in the Geelong Cup," said Ellison speaking from Onesmoothoperator's base in Werribee. "He's been absolutely brilliant and is in great form."
"He put weight on actually when he came over, obviously, I've had horses here before and he's probably the best one I've ever travelled. He looks great and is doing well; I couldn't be happier with him. He gets out of quarantine on Sunday."
"We're just upping his work now really as he had an easy week last week."
This season's Northumberland Plate hero went on to finish a respectable seventh in the Ebor, a 'win and you're in' race for the Melbourne feature, before keeping on steadily to finish fourth in the Group 3 September Stakes at Kempton last month.
Of his latest effort, Ellison said: "Kalpana (winner of the September Stakes) is a Group 1 filly and was getting all the allowances. They went too slow for him at Kempton and the ground was too deep and he still ran really well."
The six-year-old gelding remains winless on the turf, but he has run with plenty of credit on quick ground and Ellison will be hoping conditions begin to warm up down under.
When asked if good ground would suit his Geelong Cup contender, Ellison replied: "It would if we get good ground, the weather's been miserable here! We've had frost this morning!"
While the Melbourne Cup remains his main aim next month, Onesmoothoperator does have other options should he fail to get into the famous Flemington feature, with the Malton-based handler eyeing a possible tilt at the valuable 2600m Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
Ellison explained: "If it doesn't happen, he'll run on the Saturday in the $300,000 race (Queen Elizabeth Stakes) and there's a $200,000 bonus for horses that didn't get in the Melbourne Cup."
Ben Robinson has been a staple part of Onesmoothoperator's career in recent years, but Ellison will look towards an Australian pilot for his Geelong Cup bid. "I'm not sure who will ride yet, it all depends on what weight he gets," said Ellison. "If he has plenty of weight it'll likely be Damien Lane and if not, probably Craig Williams."
