Onesmoothoperator swoops late to take November Handicap

Rearranged plan pays off for trainer Brian Ellison at Newcastle.

Brian Ellison made the most of switch to the all-weather for the Virgin Bet November Handicap as Onesmoothoperator enjoyed a fortuitous victory.

The contest is usually the finale of the British Flat season on the turf at Doncaster, but flooding forced the fixture on to Newcastle’s synthetic surface instead.

The move inspired Ellison to enter his five-year-old in the race and veto an intended run in a Sedgefield novices’ hurdle.

The decision proved a wise one as Onesmoothoperator, who had raced in midfield under Ben Robinson, snuck through on the inside rail in the final furlong.

From there he locked horns with Charlie Johnston’s Struth but came out on top to succeed at odds of 15-2 by a neck.

Ellison said “We weren’t even going to run him in it until it got switched to here, we were going to take him to Sedgefield for a novice hurdle!

“We bought him to go hurdling. This has been a lucky race for me, I’ve won it three times now.

“He likes it here, though, he needs them to go a strong gallop and he got a brilliant ride. He made his move around the top bend and you know you have to be up the rail.

“I think the horse has deserved a big one because he’s a funny one, you have to ride him for luck. Luckily enough today they got racing early and it all worked out.

“More than likely we’ll still go hurdling but he must have good ground. He’s an absolutely brilliant jumper.

“We’ve run him once over hurdles but they absolutely walked round and that was no good to him, he finished second. We might give him a pop just for a change. We’ll see what’s around.”

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