Newcastle-born trainer Brian Ellison celebrated his 72nd birthday on Friday and received the ultimate present on Saturday when Onesmoothoperator won the Northumberland Plate.
Trainer Ellison was born in 1952 at the Pitmen's Derby. He has never hidden his desire to win this prestigious North East prize and his Onesmoothoperator's success sparked cheering scenes in the winners' enclosure at Gosforth Park.
Under a confident ride from Connor Beasley, the 12-1 winner easily moved to the front from the furlong pole on the near rail to win comfortably by two and a half lengths from the rated 40-1 outsider.
“I've wanted to win for a long time and we knew we had him right,” Ellison said. “The last two days, we were a little bit worried because the surface was a little soft, but today the guys came in and they were running a lot faster.”
“I told Connor not to worry about the pace. I knew Tashkhan would be there and I made sure he had a good pace. They had a great run and when this horse sings, he's a beast.
“I went back and said, ‘This is broken!’ Connor could have beaten him with the reins, but he said he was a good horse if done right.
“I don’t think it has sunk in yet. I thought we had won it with Seymour when he cleared and got caught in 2016, but we’ve come here to win it before and we’re disappointed.”
“There's always a part of me that thinks I'm going to be disappointed and it doesn't feel real that we won, but it's really fantastic.
Onesmoothoperator lives up to his name on the Northumberland Plate.
“Conor used to come to our house and go horseback riding as a baby, and his mum and dad worked for me. We’ve known each other for a long time.
“I'm from here and I've got a lot of connections here, a lot of family and friends. It's good for the North, it's good for Newcastle. It's a good race to be in.
“(It's going to be the best day of my training career. It's great to chase away the monkeys and everyone saying, 'You have to win the plate.'”
Winner Patrick Boyle was also proud of the Geordies, saying: “I'm really happy, it's the biggest race in the North East and I live just around the corner.
“He travelled great and we knew the horse was in great condition. He needed to start strong and he did. Fair play to Brian and the team, they are the ones who do it all.
“I think we'll have a celebration tonight. Brian is a good friend and has family here. This means a lot to him and I'm happy.”
Montassib races down Kinross to steal Chipchase's loot.
Montassib recorded the most notable win of his career to date, narrowly beating Kinross in the Jenningsbet Nun Street Newcastle Open Now Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle.
Ralph Beckett's Kinross, a two-time Group 1 winner and multiple Group 2 winner, brought star quality to the six-furlong Group 3. The seven-year-old, who won the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, was the 5-2 favorite for the race, his first since October.
Trained by William Haggas, who actually made his winning debut at Newcastle four years ago, Montassib won the Cammidge Trophy at Doncaster on his first start of 2024 before finishing sixth in the Duke of York Stakes last month.
Under pressure in the middle, Kinross took the lead under Hector Crouch but could not prevent 7-2 shots from Montassib and Cieren Fallon to score by three quarters of a length. .
Hagers, who has won the award for the third year in a row following recent wins for Sense Of Duty and Tiber Flow, said of the latest winner: “I’m delighted to win Group 3 with him. He’s taking the ground. It's a good horse that just needs to be trimmed a little.
“I’m not sure where we’ll go now, but he’s not going to Goodwood for the Stewards’ Cup. He’s now got to take a group race penalty, so I think we’re doomed (there’s a handicap for the company).
“I think we're going to stick to stakes racing and go wherever we can dig.
Montassib landed the Chipchase Stakes at Newcastle.
“He will be an outsider but it would be nice to think he could be in the running at Ascot on Champions Day.”
After Wiltshire won their opening match, Fallon was quick to complete a double on the cards for his boss.
He said: “He's a really good horse and he turns his feet very well in a strong gallop. We saw that at Doncaster, where he had nowhere to go and had nowhere to go with half a furlong to go and he pulled away by a gap. It was the same today.
“Things weren't going well at York on the last day. I didn't give him the best car and I had to make up for that today. I was very confident as Kinross had such a long break. I knew if I could get him anywhere I could get him somewhere in the last half. I thought it would be within a furlong and everything went right.”
