It was the unexpected first leg of a winning double on the day — and a double that went within a whisker of being a spectacular treble.
But even the Cornish-Gaskin grand designs came back to earth with a little thud when Madam Superior, which Cornish had rated the stable’s best chance in the lead up to the day, finished second by a head in race eight.
Still, two out of three ain’t bad and the stable had its slice of luck with King Of Design.
He was only an emergency and didn’t get a start until other horses were scratched from the $23,000 Signarama Echuca Moama Plate over 1400 m.
Jockey Liam Riordan managed to put the longshot in the lead after the jump and quietly went about gradually extending King Of Design’s advantage while behind him riders jockeyed for position.
In the rush to the line the field discovered the bolter had bolted, with Riordan taking him across the line a length clear.
Cornish said considering nothing had gone his horse’s way at its previous start, he told Riordan King Of Design was a horse that couldn’t be held up and he had to free rolling.
“Once he gets into that lovely rhythm, he’s a pretty hard fella to run down and today has proved that,” Cornish said.
“He has had problems. He had a wind operation and that can be tricky for horses but look, we are starting to get the best of him now we have worked him out, so it’s going well.”
Cornish-Gaskin’s day got even better just 30 minutes later in the $23,000 Think Water Power Echuca Maiden Plate over 1400 m.
The Talking Toff, a horse that had been in their stable for less than a week, delivered with Brad Rawiller on board.
It wasn’t until 250 m to go where the $5.70 chance really came into his own.
Rawiller hooked the horse towards the middle of the track and once the four-year-old found his stride there was no looking back.
“The Toff has only been with us since Wednesday last week and Jarrod Robinson, who had him, has done a great job with him for his first two preps,” Cornish said after the win.
“Jarrod gave him the polish and we might have just buffed him a bit.
“But just watching his replays and talking to Brad (who had ridden him in his previous race) about him going into the race, I still had a lot of confidence about him today.
“We’ll probably earmark him as a good mile type of horse. He has a lovely action and great attributes. His ability and attitude are 110 per cent, so we’re glad to have him in our stable.”
It gives the horse one win from one start for his new trainers and one in four since his debut in 2019.
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