Horse Racing

WATCH: Geelong Cup Result Sees Onesmoothoperator Cruise To Victory, With Melbourne Cup Next

Andy Newton Sports Editor

Published23 Oct 2024

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The 2024 Geelong Cup result saw ONESMOOTHOPERATOR win the lucrative Geelong Cup in Australia on Wednesday morning for UK-based Geordie trainer Brian Ellison – with connections now dreaming of Melbourne Cup glory on November 5th.

Onesmoothoperator Bolts Up By Over Two Lengths In Top Geelong Cup Result Trainer Brian Ellison

Norton, in North Yorkshire, is world away from Geelong racecourse in Victoria, Australia – but Geordie trainer Brian Ellison was toasting one of the biggest wins of his career Down Under on Wednesday when his classy stayer ONESMOOTHOPERATOR landed the Group 3 Geelong Cup by just over 2 lengths.

Onesmoothoperator will be known to many horse racing followers in the UK and Ireland – having also won the 2024 Northumberland Plate at Newcastle back in June.

He’s a horse that had shown his best form on the AW tracks – winning four times on the sand surfaces.

However, the 6 year-old grabbed his biggest win of his career in the grass in the 2024 Geelong Cup on Wednesday 23rd October.

Onesmoothoperator Was Winning For The First Time On Grass

This victory, under top Aussie jockey Craig Williams, was in fact Onesmoothoperator’s first career success on the grass – having tried nine times previous.

Onesmoothoperator raced off the pace at the back of the field of 13 for much of the race, but with the hot favourite Unusual Legacy pulled-up early on, this opened up the 1m4f contest.

Williams was able to pick-off the runners from the 800m mark and after coming four wide around the turn it only took a few cracks of the whip to see the Brian Ellison runner power clear to eventually win by 2 1/2 lengths (Watch below).

This Geelong Cup result will mean Onesmoothoperator will pick up a penalty and have a better chance of making the final Melbourne Cup 2024 runners on November 5th.

Jockey Craig Williams, if he keeps the ride, also has form in the big race. He won the Melbourne Cup in 2019 on Vow And Declare.

WATCH: The Brian Ellison-Trained Onesmoothoperator Win The Geelong Cup 2024 (Full Race)

Next Stop The Melbourne Cup For Onesmoothoperator

In 2019 the Charlie Fellowes-trained Prince Of Arran won the Geelong Cup and went onto finish a head runner-up in the Melbourne Cup.

The 2024 Geelong Cup result has also now seen the best horse racing betting sites in the UK slash the odds on Onesmoothoperator.

However, still remains behind this season’s St Leger winner Jan Brueghel and the Willie Mullins-trained Vauban in the market.

The horse is also still listed as number 32 in the Melbourne Cup runners list with the final declarations yet to be announced.

In 2005, Ellison suffered Melbourne Cup heartache when this Carte Diamond was pulled from the race after suffering an injury in the build-up.

While the last horse to win both the Geelong Cup and the Melbourne Cup in the same year was Dunaden in 2011.

Onesmoothoperator’s trainer Brian Ellison added after the race to the PA News Agency

“He was brilliant, but he has been working great out here, he’s adapted to it really well.

“You could just tell that he’s enjoyed being here. He’s been on the go a heck of a long time but I was almost worried he was doing too well. He was eating so much!

“He’s paid for his trip now, that was worth £160,000 to the winner. I’ve been out here with four others, Carte Diamond, the two that ran together and Bay Story. He ran well in a couple of races and we even sent him to Perth were he was second.

“I think if you’ve got the right horse and your owner is willing to pay the money, it’s worth coming over. They have to adapt in a short time but I knew very quickly he had. He just thrived, but then Saptapadi didn’t handle it at all.

“It’s a freebie now, going for the Melbourne Cup. Obviously it’s a different ball game taking on Vauban and the like, but we’ll see. He’s at least proved he can win on grass now, that’s his first win!”