CUP HOPE ONESMOOTHOPERATOR TO REMAIN IN AUSTRALIA AFTER THE MELBOURNE CUP

By Graham Potter | Friday, October 31, 2025

Win, lose or draw, the quality stayer Onesmoothoperator will remain in Australia after his second attempt at Melbourne Cup glory on Tuesday.

The United States bred eight-year-old has already shown his liking for life down under having won two out of his three starts so far in the country under the astute guidance of English trainer Brian Elison who took him to victory in the 2024 Geelong Cup and achieved the same result in this year’s Moonee Valley Gold Cup … with both of those races earning the son of Dialed In a ballot free entry in the respective Melbourne Cups.

Onesmoothoperator finished unplaced, but only five lengths behind the winner Knight’s Choice in last year’s Melbourne Cup. The betting there underlined the respect Onesmoothoperator was shown on that occasion with the gelding starting as second favourite fr the Cup at $7, just one point behind the race favourite Buckaroo.

There is perhaps a warning in that as, this time around, Onesmoothoperator was very impressive in winning the Moonee Valley Gold Cup.

Given that was effectively a warm-up run for the Melbourne Cup after a two-month break from race action and the travel involved in changing continents, it could not have been a more encouraging performance, particularly as it came over 2500m for a horse that has won up to 3320m and will stay all day.

The Elison touch will still be in play for the Melbourne Cup, but the ownership group has told Racing.com that the horse will then move to the yard of Bendigo based, Melbourne born trainer Tim Fitzsimmons, who only returned to Australia following the closing of racing in Singapore where he trained for seventeen years, annexing a Singapore Trainer’s Premiership along the way.