Ridden by Neil Farley, Talking Toff overcame a slow start to charge home down the straight in the 1600m Hygain BM58 handicap, winning by a length from Mark’s Line for its second career win and first since October 2020.
Cornish admitted the five-year gelding was sometimes its own worst enemy but was pleased to see the horse develop over longer distances.
“The biggest problem with this horse is he can be a diva to himself — he misses the start all the time,” Cornish said.
“We’ve always wanted to get him up to the mile-plus, and that way he can get himself into the races a little bit easier.
“His tempo is a bit slow but he’s got this really good burst of energy late. It was the second time we put him in the mile and the first time we felt right about it.
“If we can get him up to 2000m, we’re going to have a nice horse.
“He’s always had the ability and everyone’s always earmarked him as a serious horse. The ability is there, it’s just mentally getting him to fill his desire to win.”
Dinga nearly made it a winning double for Cornish and Gaskin, falling short by three quarters of a length to Patrick Payne’s Free Flying Star.
It continues a strong recent run for the stable, with wins at Ararat and Kyneton in April courtesy of Talking Toff’s stablemate O’whatapicture.
Around the track, local trainers had a number of placings across the seven-race card in the first meeting at Echuca since April 10.
Rhys Archard’s Bangerang Redback ran second in the Caledonian Hotel Maiden Plate over 1200m behind Eaglet by less than a quarter of a length, while Gwenda Johnstone’s Sevira finished third in the same race.
The next meeting at Echuca Racing Club is on Thursday, June 2.
