Conditions key to Ellison’s plan for back-to-form Tashkhan

Newmarket, Ascot and ParisLongchamp in the mix for useful stayer.

Brian Ellison has three options for Tashkhan having seen his stable star get back to winning ways at Chester last weekend.

The mud-lover defied a big weight to win a valuable handicap, his first success since claiming a big pot at Haydock in July 2021.

In the interim he has performed with great credit in staying races like the Long Distance Cup at Ascot, the Yorkshire Cup and the Gold Cup at Ascot.

However, Ellison always has the problem of knowing the five-year-old is simply not the same horse unless he gets to race on soft ground.

He could now shoulder top-weight of 10st 2lb in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket, with the Long Distance Cup or the Prix Royal-Oak at ParisLongchamp alternate options, with conditions crucial to the decision.

“It all depends on the ground where next, we won’t run him anywhere unless it rains as we know what a different horse he is,” said Ellison.

“He’s in the Cesarewitch, he’s in at Ascot and he could go to France, so wherever the ground comes right he could run in any.

“When he runs on fast ground it takes him a while to get over it but I’ve got him back right again now – thankfully the rain came at Chester. That was a good performance against in-form horses and he was giving them a lot of weight.

“He’s come out of it great which is the main thing. I know he’d have a lot of weight in the Cesarewitch but if it went heavy I’d still think about.

“I’ve stopped looking at weather forecasts, the rain wasn’t forecast for Chester and it poured down.

“You’d think the ground would be soft in France, but it wasn’t last weekend and we went at the beginning of the season when they told us it was heavy, but it was good jumping ground to me.

“If I had to pick one it would be Ascot, if it’s soft there he’d run. We’ll just go where the soft ground is.”

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