Zero To Ten backed up from a failure at Warwick Farm on Wednesday to become the first Gundagai horse to take out the hometown feature since Carvalin in 1998.

Heywood gave Zero To Ten ($18.00) every chance and the six-year-old responded and toughed out a strong victory by a half length.

The $4.20 favourite Just A Blur ran on for second, with fellow Canberra horse Asclepius ($21.00) a further 2½ lengths away in third place.

Both Scobie and Heywood were as cool as each other in victory, neither raising little more than a smile despite the historic moment in both their careers.

Scobie races the horse with partner Kathy Blay and he was satisfied to snare their hometown feature.

“We just do it as a family,” Scobie said.

“Generally speaking, my other half is the strapper and I do it.

“It’s good, but it’s a bloody hard game this.”

Scobie has been at Gundagai since 1988 and had starters in the race before without any luck.

He was happy to see his plan come off.

“He won at Corowa six or eight weeks ago and I gave him a couple of weeks off with the intention of starting him in this,” he said.

“I went to Warwick Farm on Wednesday because I thought it was a more suitable race and I wasn’t going to start him in this, it’s just that we had a bit of rain, it got wet and it doesn’t make him go any better but it makes the others come back to him a bit.

“It brings him a bit closer to them and that’s exactly what happened. It’s not often you’re right.”

Scobie saved his biggest praise for the ride of the 19-year-old Heywood.

“It was a fantastic ride,” he said.

“The kid got on and he said, this is what I should do, he’s won on him before, he said he’ll be positive out of the gates, if they want to lead I’ll let them lead and sit up and at the 600 I’m going to see if I can get away from them.

“It just worked out the way he said.”

Heywood sat just off leader Lampedusa in second place and upped the ante from the 600m mark, hitting the front at the 400m, kicking away around the bend to hold off the fast-finishing Just A Blur.

It takes Zero To Ten’s record to eight wins from 31 starts and now more than $130,000 in prizemoney.

Scobie races the horse himself with his partner and her family.

Wagga stayer Grand Allowance hit the line strongly to finish in fourth place.

Art Thou Ready finished back in 10^th spot and did not handle the heavy track.