Virgin Bet November Handicap |
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| Newcastle (relocated from Doncaster) 15:45 £70,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m 3f 197y, Class 2  |
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1 Onesmoothoperator 15/2
2 Struth 14/1
3
Beraz 12/1
13 ran NR: Splendent Distances: nk, 1¾l, ¾l
Time: 2m 47.56s (slow by 9.76s)
A local winner of the feature! Onesmoothoperator takes out the Virgin Bet November Handicap for @BERacingLtd and Ben Robinson at @NewcastleRaces... pic.twitter.com/m87IXTiLiz
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) November 11, 2023
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 Brian Ellison to enter the five-year-old Onesmoothoperator 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.”
November Handicap
£70,000 guaranteed, 3yo plus, 1m 3f 197y, Class 2
13 runners
Going: Standard
POS. (DRAW) DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 (13) Onesmoothoperator 5 9-0 Brian Ellison Ben Robinson 15/2
2 (8) nk Struth 3 9-0 Charlie Johnston Joe Fanning 14/1
3 (4) 1¾ Beraz 5 9-2 Julie Camacho Ryan Sexton 12/1
4 (2) ¾ Pleasant Man 5 9-4 Jack Jones Dylan Hogan 100/1
5 (9) ¾ Teumessias Fox 4 9-12 Andrew Balding Callum Hutchinson 4/1
6 (1) nse Local Dynasty 3 9-7 Charlie Appleby William Buick 3/1F
7 (3) nk Mr Alan 4 9-11 George Boughey Jason Hart 18/1
8 (6) ¾ Prydwen 5 9-7 George Scott Sean Levey 14/1
9 (14) nk Chillingham 4 9-9 Edward Bethell P J McDonald 6/1
10 (7) ½ Mustazeed 5 9-0 Harry Eustace Kaiya Fraser 18/1
11 (12) nk Euchen Glen 10 9-8 Jim Goldie Paul Mulrennan 33/1
12 (10) ¾ Laafi 3 9-4 William Haggas Cieren Fallon 7/1
13 (5) 5½ Furzig 8 9-1 Richard Fahey Billy Garritty 40/1
NR 10 (11) Splendent 4 9-2 Paul & Oliver Cole NON RUNNER
