UK trainer Brian Ellison thought luck had again deserted him when Onesmoothoperator was under an injury cloud for a start in the Melbourne Cup.
Ellison has been coming out for the Melbourne Spring Carnival since 2005, with a focus on the Group 1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) at Flemington to be run on Tuesday.
With Onesmoothoperator safely in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup field, Ellison felt everything had gone too well, and sure enough a veterinary examination on Friday had ruled the stayer unsuitable to race.
“I thought the demons were back at me again as everything was going too good, but they’re the battles,” Ellison said.
“You get battles everywhere, so you’ve just got to take it and move on.
“Hopefully everything is alright when he’s vetted again on Monday and on Tuesday, he runs a nice race and finishes in the top six.
“That would be great.”
Onesmoothoperator was re-examined on Saturday morning and given the all-clear while all 24 runners in Tuesday race will undergo another test on Monday.
The Ellison story with the Melbourne Cup goes back to 2005 with Carte Diamond his first foray to Melbourne and after pleasing in the Caulfield Cup in the lead-up to the Cup, it turned pear-shape a week out from the Cup in a freak mishap.
The gelding returned the following year and was ruled out of Cup contention on veterinary grounds while Bay Story was set for the Cup in 2007 but failed to make the field and then broke down during the running of the 2800m support race on Cup Day.
Ellison’s last trip to Melbourne was in 2011 when Moyenne Corniche and Saptapadi finished 15th and 16th respectively in the that year’s Cup.
Onesmoothoperator became Ellison’s first winner on Australian soil, from 16 starters, when successful in the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) on October 23, earning a start in Tuesday’s race.
When Onesmoothoperator left the UK for Melbourne, the Geelong Cup was to be a lead-up race to the Group 3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2600m) on the final day of Melbourne Cup week.
“When we got here, the plan was to run at Geelong and then run on the Saturday, but now it’s a free ride as he’s won his money to come over,” Ellison said.
“When he won at Geelong, he left a bit in the tank and came out of it well.
“He worked well on Wednesday but pulled a shoe off and got on his heel, then on Friday, he went twice around Werribee and came back in and got vetted.
“He trotted, but standing he wasn’t 100 per cent putting his foot down, but on Saturday he was 100 per cent sound again.
“We had him re-shod, he passed his vets test and then we took him down the beach and loved it.
“We’ll give him another canter, take him to the beach again.
“That change has been great for him and he’s loving it.”
Onesmoothoperator will be ridden by Craig Williams who won the Melbourne Cup in 2019 aboard Vow And Declare.