That horse, five-year-old gelding O’whatapicture, is now starting to reward the pair for their patience and devotion — winning back-to-back races and shaping as a stable star of the future.
O’whatapicture gave the horse-racing partnership a hint of things to come when he raced on the pace in a 1200-metre event on Echuca Cup day, finishing only a couple of length off in third position.
In 15 starts the now-62-rated sprinter, who has never been tested over a distance greater than 1300 metres, has only finished out of the money on four occasions.
His record now is two wins, six runners-up finishes and three thirds, for $63,000 in prizemoney.
Cornish said his next start would be at Bendigo on Sunday week (May 15, the day after Echuca Racing Club’s May 14 meeting), in an 1100-metre 64-rating event.
“He is the type of horse we always give a coulpe of weeks between races,” Cornish said.
“He has always had issues and takes a fair bit of looking after.”
Cornish said O’whatapicture had always shown that ability, but — until now at least — had never put it together.
His last win, at Kyneton in late April, saw him win by a small margin after being four wide for the entire 1100 metres — on a soft 6-rated track with 60kg on his back.
Cornish said he and Gaskin would now allow him to go through his classes.
“We are looking at the Moonee Valley night series as the target target for his next preparation,” he said.
“We just want to build him up.”
The horse has Mildura and Melbourne ownership connections and a feel-good story behind his eventual winning streak.
“This bloke was an orphan foal and when he was young he put his feet through the fence and almost severed them both,” Cornish said.
“He had a navicular disease and probably should have never raced.
“He previous trainers didn’t think he would and we have had to nurse him through his time with us.”
O’whatapicture, according to Gaskin, was lacking the will to win in the early stages of his career, but that is history now
“He really has picked up that killer instinct now,” Cornish said.
Cornish and Gaskin will have three runners entered at Echuca on May 14 (Saturday) and then O’whatapicture resumes at Bendigo the following day.
∎ Two part-owners of Darryl Archard-trained Retrospection can thank the generosity of Archard’s wife, Debbie, for a significant punting windfall.
Archard told me this week the story of the “lucky punters’’, who had somehow found their way to his stables in search of the bus returning to the centre of town on Echuca cup day, 2021.
“These owners, who I still haven’t met face to face, were trying to get back to town on Echuca Cup day last year,” Archard said.
“My wife Debbie was coming home and saw these two guys at the stables. She told them she was going to town and could give them a lift.”
A short while later the discussion turned to them asking the trainer’s wife if he had any horses they could be a shares in.
After contacting her husband and them being informed of three-year-old Tavistock that Archard had just purchased, money started pouring into the front seat from the punters — who had obviously had a successful experience on cup day.
“They said they would take 10 per cent and they threw a heap of money over into the front seat,” Archard said.
“I have still not met them yet, I only spoke to them for the first time after the race.”
The now part owners of Retrospection were ecstatic with the result as they invested in the four-year-old, having just his fourth race start, at odds of $81.
Retrospection duly saluted, winning the 1850-metre Kyneton maiden — the first race on the program — by almost three lengths and filling the pockets of connections through the extraordinary odds.
“He has been a slow maturing horse, but is bred to stay and he was taking a bit of time,” Archard said.
Retrospection arrived at Archard’s stable in August last year and has trialled on six occasions.
The significant odds offered were offered based on his 31 length 11th at Swan Hill in March, although he did improve markedly on April 11 at the same venue. He had also finished 10th (of 11 starters) at Echuca in September last year.
“We put blinkers on him and he knocked up in that first up race over 1600 metres,” Archard said.
“But last week he blew them away.”
Archard, a big wrap for Irish jockey Neil Farley, said not all connections managed to take advantage of the generous odds.
“While he started at $81, he ended up at $26. The money really came for him after he opened at those huge odds,” he said.
Archard’s daughter, Bo, a part owner of the gelding and regarded as an astute punter, failed to take advantage of the enormous odds.
“I saddled the horse up and she asked me if I had backed him. I said yes, but she said I reckon I will wait and by the time I get to the grandstand he will be $100,’’ Darryl Archard said.
She was a left bemused after opening the betting app on her find to find Retrospection’s odds had been reduced to $26.
And while happy to see him greet the judge she was a slightly forlorn figure on the back of a significant reduction in her profit margin.
“She is usually more astute than that,’’ her father said.
The horse has further local connections through part owners Andy McGillivray is from Echuca, Noel Brooks is Mathoura and John Dickins is at Gunbower.
Retrospection will now go to Ballarat in two weeks, on a Tuesday, in a 2000-metre race.
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