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'It would be nice to get some big owners in the yard - we even wrote to the Queen'
Brian Ellison tells Lewis Porteous about the most important win of his life and the perennial battle for better horses
It is more than two weeks since Brian Ellison achieved a long-held ambition to win the Northumberland Plate, so it says everything about the trainer's popularity that the congratulatory messages are still coming.
The son of a Tyneside shipbuilder who is mightily proud of his heritage in the north-east, Ellison is one of their own in Newcastle, which is why Onesmoothoperator's Plate success was celebrated like a resounding home win at St James' Park and will not be forgotten in a hurry.
"It's been unreal," says Ellison of the aftermath. "I went to Ripon the other day and all I did was shake hands with people and sign autographs. I've had loads of letters and I've never had a reception like it – it's been fantastic."
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Published on inThe Big Read
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- 'I don't want to be part of this narrative that Irish trainers are better than us - I think that's rubbish, it drives me nuts'
- 'The grief hits me quite a lot - so many people think I'm really tough but I get terribly upset by things inwardly'
- 'The numbers went in the wrong direction and you're an idiot if you don't think about it - but you back what you're doing'
- 'My wife wants to know why I'm reading the sales catalogue in bed - it's relentless, but you have to be on it all the time'
- 'I know people will say they've heard it all before - but when I see Constitution Hill now, he's suddenly developed quality'