The five-year-old gelding hadn't finished better than second-last in its past four runs, but a superb patient ride from Wagga apprentice Josh Richards allowed Monkery to storm home and beat heavily-backed favourite Zoffany's Lad ($2.15), who tired late under the top weight.

Monkery is owned by Sandy and Cathy Tait, the owners of 13-time Group One winner Tie The Knot.

Their race caller mirrored most punter's thoughts by bellowing "where did that run come from?" as Monkery finished over the top.

Monkery is a wet tracker and Blundell was concerned when the recent rain stopped on race day.

"I had my doubts because the ground was drying out a bit, he's a deadset wet tracker," he said.

"But on the home track they know where things are and it makes a difference."

Blundell said he considered getting rid of Monkery after a similar poor start to his previous campaign, before he racked up three wins on the trot.

"The last time in on the firmer tracks, at one stage we were going to sell him because he was showing nothing," he said.

"It was the same he's done this time, but as soon as the tracks got softer he put three together last time in."

Blundell praised the ride of Richards, who secured back-to-back Gundagai Cup after steering Chris Heywood's $20 roughie Class Clown to victory last year.

"He rode him how I told him to ride, to go for short cuts and for luck.

"He started moving along the last 600 and come the 400 he's taken a few more short cuts and it worked out good."

Blundell said weather will decide whether Monkery nominates for next month's Wagga Gold Cup.

"If it was wet we would, he's got to have a wet surface to be competitive like he showed today," he said.

Meanwhile talented Wagga jockey Nick Heywood rode his first winner since returning from suspension and a wrist injury aboard Matthew Dale runner Biscara ($4.90) in the Sounds of the Mountains Class 2 Handicap (1000m).

Heywood positioned the top weight just off the speed before launching late to win easily from Indicators On.

Heywood has not ridden since July last year after receiving a suspension for a positive drug test, and his return was delayed further by a wrist injury.

In the Carvalin Maiden Plate (1400m) the Rob Potter-trained Congenial Mistress ($10) just held off a strong late challenge from heavily-backed favourite Sumdeel.

Sumdeel made a concerted lunge but just missed reeling in the winner by a whisker. It was a well deserved breakthrough for Congenial Mistress, who finished second in her last two starts at Sapphire Coast and Queanbeyan in December.

"She's really improved this time around and we were really confident with her today," Potter said.

"I think she's going to go better down the track and go a bit further in distance but she raced really well.

"She races good fresh, we only had a jump out and we were confident she'd run well today under the conditions."

Former Gundagai trainer Todd Smart made his return to town count when jockey Ellen Hennessy backed up her win aboard Congenial Mistress with a frontrunning victory on Our Volantis ($7.50) in the Benchmark 58 Handicap (1400m).

It was Congenial Mistress' second run for Smart's stable and after finishing fifth of sixth runners over 2000 metres at Canberra a month ago, proved too difficult to run down.

"We ran her at Canberra and she pulled up pretty ordinary, so we gave her some time and brought her back in distance and it seemed to do the trick," Smart said.

"I knew she was going to be very fit for the 14 and I didn't intentionally didn't want her to go forward but she was going to get caught wide, so she (Hennessy) made the right move.

"Coming back from 2000 you're always going to stick it out fitness wise."

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