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The Group 1 $8.56 million Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m) on Tuesday November 5 is calling for Brian Ellison’s UK raider Onesmoothoperator after the gun stayer made a mess of his rivals first-up down under in the Ladbrokes Geelong Cup 2024 results.

The talented US-bred son of Dialed In, who races as a seven-year-old, went around at double-figure odds of $11 when making his Australian race debut in Wednesday’s Group 3 $500,000 Ladbrokes Geelong Cup (2400m).

The visitor was given a perfectly timed ride by big race specialist Craig Williams who celebrated his sixth Geelong Cup success since 2000.

Williams sat back throughout before moving up on the home straight, charging to the lead with 250m to go and from there Onesmoothoperator absolutely bolted home to race right into 2024 Melbourne Cup calculations.

“I’ve been here a few times and had a few bits of bad luck but this horse has been brilliant,” the North Yorkshire-based Ellison told Racing.com post-victory.

“He came over, he put weight on the trip over. Mark Brown rides him every day and he’s been doing good times and I just said to Craig, ‘it’s not your normal stayer, he’s got loads of speed’.

“He’s always had a good turn of foot, and a great ride.

“Well, I kept saying to the owner you have to go to Australia. The owner loves racing, the family loves it, and they all love racing.

“And I said, ‘You have to go to Australia for this time of year; it’s fantastic. This horse has got a good chance if we get in the Cup; it’s a good chance.'”

On the line the impressive Geelong Cup winner had over two lengths to spare over the long priced Ciaron Maher-trained runner-up Interpretation ($21), while Caulfield Cup scratching Muramasa ($7) ran third.

The Geelong Cup has been a terrific Melbourne Cup form race over the years with the double recently completed by French raiders Americain (2010) and Dunaden (2011), and Williams believes the horse he rode to victory this year in the lead-up is a terrific chance come the first Tuesday of November at Flemington.

“Yeah, I think he’s well-placed for this year’ s race, and that’s all you’re ever asking for,” Williams said.

“You’re looking for the best horse in that year, and he ticks good boxes. The fact that he stays really well.

“He’s been a synthetic track, a very firm track today. He’s won on soft, and he runs over long distance, and today he’s like riding on cotton wool, the way he was.

“Brian Ellison and his team have done a great job. He’s a really fit horse. He’s a healthy horse. I think he’s only got improvement to come from him, and he’ll know that he won today. He knows he’s won a Geelong Cup. It’s all etched in the doors down there in their quarantine barns.

“I had the right run today from a tricky barrier draw.

“It worked out really well, and it was good to get an understanding of him going forward, which is great. But most importantly, he got the win, and it’s a great lead-up race, especially for international horses going to the Cup.”

All-in 2024 Melbourne Cup betting at Ladbrokes on Onesmoothoperator have firmed into $12 now on the fourth line of the markets.