But he was still good enough to beat a Benchmark 60 field in the Peter Milling Real Estate Handicap (1600m) at the Dubbo TAB meeting.

Trained by Peter Nestor on the track and ridden by Mathew Cahill, El Toro did enough to hold on by a long neck from the fast finishing Sezero ($4.60, Kody Nestor), with $2.30 favourite Vigneron (Greg Ryan) third.

Orbell, a local bookmaker, owns the former Victorian gelding with his son Guy and another syndicate member who lives in Sydney.

“He’s had four starts for us now and I must admit he’s not much good,” Ken Orbell said.

“But I must say that he’s a half brother to a Caulfield Cup winner (Diatribe in 2000). That’s his only claim to fame.

“The problem we have with him is that he track works OK but (Peter Nestor) reckons he’s a thief.”

And as for Orbell’s book on the race: “I got the lot, and that was nothing”, tongue in cheek, we would suggest.

In the jockey’s room, Mathew Cahill said he’d had a few words of encouragement from Kody Nestor, stable jockey for Peter Nestor who rides the gelding in most of his work.

“Yeah, Kody’s been riding him in work and said I should go forward,” Cahill said.

“He’s in barrier one and the horse is very fit and he said he doesn’t quicken a lot and with his light weight (54.5kgs) the race would be ideal for him to be ridden on the pace and it paid off.

“He travelled along nicely at an even clip but then, about the 200, I thought I was in trouble when a couple of horses came to me but he showed a little bit of a kick and he kept fighting away to the line.”

The horse that looked the main danger 200m out was the favourite Vigernon, but no sooner had he got to El Toro, the 61kgs started to kick in and that’s where his challenge finished.

Vigernon did well to hold on for third, beaten 1-3/4 lengths.

The run of Sezero was a top effort, the mare trained at Wyong by Don Robb. A few metres past the post she was in front.

The defeat of Vigernon wasn’t an ideal start to the seven races for Greg Ryan who was also beaten on the favourite (Run Legless) in the first race.

Meanwhile, the Peter Nestor stable and Kody Nestor completed a winning double in race three, the 1300m maiden plate when Betarzi ($2.30 fav) finally broke through for his first win from six starts.

The son of Catbird x Karioi Flight, is owned by former Dubbo businessman Mark Betar and his wife Lyn. The four-year-old gelding has been well supported in each of his races but yesterday was the first time he put his best foot forward - and in a big way, winning by 5-1/2 lengths.