Ellison and Swift struggle to comprehend depth of achievement after Moyenne Corniche’s triumph

In-form trainer Brian Ellison, basking in the glory of the biggest win of his career as a handler, is “desperate” to win the prestigious race that stops Australia, and also the Northumberland Plate in his home-town of Newcastle.

And, while Moyenne Corniche failed to land the Plate this year – despite a bullish Ellison indicating in March that the six-year-old would land the Pitmen’s Derby – he utilised the experience from that race to great effect. Jockey Dale Swift, an unheralded rider from Rotherham, was told to produce the horse as late as possible and he matched the instructions perfectly to spring a 25-1 surprise as the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival reached a dramatic conclusion.

It was particularly apt that the first Saturday running of the Ebor should produce a Yorkshire winner even though Malton-based Ellison thought his other runner Saptapadi, a close fifth, had the better chance.

“I’m just trying to take it all in,” Ellison told the Yorkshire Post.

“His owner Dan Gilbert and I went to the sales at the beginning of the year and bought him for £30,000. He looks a bargain now after winning £130,000. Dan’s a really good judge of horses and Moyenne stood out. The key is to hold him up. We learned that from the Plate. He also needs soft ground – if it hadn’t rained, I wouldn’t have run him.

“He might run at Doncaster at the end of the season, or we’ll look at next year’s Plate or even the Melbourne Cup in 2012. He does not want soft going, though.

“The Plate and the Melbourne Cup are the two races that I’d most like to win. You wouldn’t know he had won the Ebor – he was out in the paddock bucking and kicking.

“And I’m so pleased for Dale. He’s been with us for four or five years. A brilliant rider. When he first came, he wasn’t very good – he’d tell you that – but he’s worked hard. I had no worries about putting him up.

“He’s also had to come to terms with his weight. He’s a big lad. If he ate normally for a week, he’d go up from eight stone to 10 stone. It makes the hard work worthwhile.”

Not only was this the first time that Moyenne Corniche had triumphed since switching to the Ellison yard – the horse was 10th in the John Smith’s Cup on his previous outing – but it was only the horse’s second career victory from 25 starts.

His other triumph was a modest affair at Newbury in April 2008, when Ryan Moore, the then-champion jockey, was in the saddle. Yet Moore would have been proud of the ride that was executed by Swift.

Tactician, owned by the Queen, tried to make most for Michael Bell and Joseph O’Brien, but the challengers were queueing up three furlongs out as the field came down the centre of the track.

Mount Athos threatened but flattered to deceive, with John Gosden’s Investissement looking the likely winner at one stage and Modun looming large for Sir Michael Stoute.

Tactician stuck to his guns in admirable fashion to battle back to the lead before Moyenne Corniche flashed home to score by a length from the Michael Bell-trained runner-up who is becoming a course specialist at York.

Investissement was a further half-length away in third, with Modun fourth and Saptapadi fifth after failing to settle under Fallon. Frankie Dettori’s mount Lost In The Moment, backed into 6-1 favouritism, was seventh.

Swift, 25, was ecstatic in the winner’s enclosure; he had not ridden Moyenne Corniche before in a race. “It’s great for me being a Yorkshire lad, there’s nothing better for me than to win this race,” he said. “I always liked good handicaps as a young lad. It was at the back of my mind to try to win a race like this one day and now I’ve done it.

“It’s amazing and it might take a week to sink in.”

Ebor report: Page 10.