Gardner conceded he wished he could have scratched Upper House when he arrived on course due to the horse's below par form on heavy tracks.

But the five-year-old bucked his form and let down with a strong finishing burst to land the Walsh & Blair Country Magic Benchmark 66 Handicap (1200m).

Upper House ($6.00) ran down Fermanagh Lad ($10.00), who again gave a big sight in front. Vinnie Vega ($8.50) was back in third.

Gardner, who owns Upper House with his wife and mother-in-law, admitted he was surprised by the performance.

"I wasn't confident, because of the heavy track," Gardner said.

"He's got a tonne of ability and is a quality horse, but he's always failed on heavy tracks even though he'd bred to be a good wet tracker. His mum was a swimmer.

"To be honest, I wished I had of scratched today when I saw the state of the track when I arrived, with him having 62 kilos.

"I said to Blaike, just keep him in the middle of the track, don't knock him around too much and let him find the line. If it had of been a dry track I would have been supremely confident."

Upper House provided Blaike McDougall with his third winner for the carnival.

Gardner admitted he was more confident about his well-backed stablemate Who's Shout, because of his wet track record, but he failed to beat a runner home.