Brian Ellison has three options for Tashkhan having seen his stable star get back to winning ways at Chester last weekend.

The mud-lover defied a big weight to win a valuable handicap, his first success since claiming a big pot at Haydock in July 2021.

In the interim he has performed with great credit in staying races like the Long Distance Cup at Ascot, the Yorkshire Cup and the Gold Cup at Ascot.

However, Ellison always has the problem of knowing the five-year-old is simply not the same horse unless he gets to race on soft ground.

He could now shoulder top-weight of 10st 2lb in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket, with the Long Distance Cup or the Prix Royal-Oak at ParisLongchamp alternate options, with conditions crucial to the decision.

“It all depends on the ground where next, we won’t run him anywhere unless it rains as we know what a different horse he is,” said Ellison.

“He’s in the Cesarewitch, he’s in at Ascot and he could go to France, so wherever the ground comes right he could run in any.

“When he runs on fast ground it takes him a while to get over it but I’ve got him back right again now – thankfully the rain came at Chester. That was a good performance against in-form horses and he was giving them a lot of weight.

“He’s come out of it great which is the main thing. I know he’d have a lot of weight in the Cesarewitch but if it went heavy I’d still think about.

“I’ve stopped looking at weather forecasts, the rain wasn’t forecast for Chester and it poured down.

“You’d think the ground would be soft in France, but it wasn’t last weekend and we went at the beginning of the season when they told us it was heavy, but it was good jumping ground to me.

“If I had to pick one it would be Ascot, if it’s soft there he’d run. We’ll just go where the soft ground is.”

Connections of Tashkhan are willing the rain to keep falling ahead of his shot at the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup Stakes.

Brian Ellison’s five-year-old has been an ever-present in the top staying contests in recent years, counting a second in the 2021 British Champions Long Distance Cup and a fifth in the following year’s Ascot Gold Cup as some of the highlights.

Seen just three times this season, he skipped this year’s Ascot feature on account of fast ground and was beaten just three-quarters of a length in his most recent outing in the Silver Cup at York.

Ellison believes he will come on for that first appearance since April and is keen to test his star stayer in Group One company once again, especially with Tashkhan’s favoured soft ground entirely possible on the Sussex Downs.

He said: “Hopefully it will be the Goodwood Cup next, that’s the plan.

“He’s fine and in good fettle and he will come on for the run at York. He hadn’t run for a while and making the running was a bit of a disadvantage to him, he’s always better coming to challenge horses, so it was a good run really. I’m really happy with him.

“He stays longer than the mother-in-law, but knowing our luck, things will start drying up. He doesn’t need to have it heavy or anything, but obviously the softer the better for him, that will give him more of a chance.”

After Goodwood, Ellison has his sights on a return to the Knavesmire for a tilt at the Sky Bet Ebor and a hefty share of it’s £500,000 prize-fund.

“You can’t keep him out of the top four really in these top races and there’s good prize-money and the plan is to go to Goodwood and then to the Ebor.

“I think the Ebor will suit him, a good handicap and a good gallop that he needs.”