The pair was charged with breaching the protocols after travelling from their residence in Moama to Victoria on several occasions and entering licensed premises (including racecourses and training centres) without self-isolating for 14 days.
The pair were also charged with providing false or misleading evidence when questioned on the matter.
Cornish said the breaches were caused by returning to their home for maintenance reasons.
“We have been in a situation where we were given 48 hours to leave our home and relocate to Victoria, which we did,” he said.
“We’ve had to keep things going at the house like mowing lawns checking mail, and that’s where we have fallen into a problem. We thought this was going to be a four-week situation which has rapidly turned into six months.
“We were of the understanding we hadn’t broken any laws, we both have border permits to return into NSW and as such we thought we were doing the right thing.
“We didn’t fully understand that (Racing Victoria) protocol, we thought collecting the mail and doing maintenance with a permit was still acceptable.”
Cornish said this played a role in the charge of providing misleading information.
“We’ve probably given the wrong answers earlier, but we came clean,” he said.
“So it came as a shock to us, we didn’t know we had been doing the wrong thing, we hadn’t been living over there and we still aren’t, but the fact we weren’t in line with Victorian racing protocol.
“It’s left us all baffled. Everyone who lives in Moama can still go to work, but we are the only trainers in Victoria who have been affected by this, and in turn it has brought us undone.
“Now it’s a case of defending ourselves and trying to beat the charges in front of us.”
The case will be heard by the Victorian Racing Tribunal on a date to be confirmed.
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