Brian Ellison hopes he has the perfect horse to cure Melbourne Cup heartbreak - but fears Australian vets

Onesmoothoperator has already realised a lifetime ambition for Brian Ellison this year – and he could soon be travelling to the other side of the world to try to scratch the trainer's biggest remaining itch.

Ellison spoke to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday's newspaper in which he reflects on his long-overdue success in the Northumberland Plate in his home city of Newcastle, Cheltenham Festival heartbreak with the infamous Latalomne and the perennial battle for bigger owners that even led to his wife writing to the Queen.

The 72-year-old suffered one of the biggest blows of his training career in 2005 when, less than a week before the Melbourne Cup, he was growing in confidence about November Handicap winner and Ebor runner-up Carte Diamond's chances only for the horse to suffer a serious injury in a workout at Flemington. While he raced again, the Cup dream was shattered.

"We bought him out of Mark Johnston's and he was a bit of a handful," recalled Ellison. "He was third favourite for the Melbourne Cup but the jockey fell off, he got loose and ran into a rail that was spiked into the ground. The rail turned over and the spike went straight through his leg.

"He didn't have much luck out there because he should have been placed in a Caulfield Cup but got hampered around the first bend, got shuffled back and still ran on to finish on the heels of the leaders. He was a good horse and would have run well in the Cup."

Brian Ellison (left) and the team celebrate Onesmoothoperator's Northumberland Plate victoryCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

Onesmoothoperator looks an ideal candidate for Melbourne, although a lot will hinge on his next run and the stringent checks any runner earmarked for Australia has to face.

"He's up to a rating of 101 now so he'll run in the Ebor," said Ellison. "He's obviously a better horse on the all-weather but the turf is no problem as long as it's not soft. If it's good ground and they go a good gallop, I can see him running very well.

"If he runs well there, Australia could be on the cards. He's the right type but the trouble now is they make it so hard to get out there. It's something everyone should experience but any slight little thing and they don't take them.

"The thing with Onesmoothoperator is that when he pulls out in the morning he's not the best of movers, but once he loosens up he's grand. It's just like you and I when we first get out of bed but on the gallops and the racecourse he moves like a dream."

Read more from Brian Ellison in The Big Read, available in Sunday's newspaper or online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday. Click here to sign up.

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