WAGGA trainer Tim Donnelly was thankful a predicted downpour for the city didn't eventuate before Saturday's Aggies Race Day.
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Around 3500 punters piled into Murrumbidgee Turf Club as crowds returned to the track for the first time since COVID regulations were relaxed.
Donnelly's Pontmain ($5.50 favourite) showed his class in the Walsh and Blair Benchmark 66 Handicap (1600m), coming from third-last in the run to secure his second straight win.
The lightly-raced eight-year-old was restrained at the start by jockey Kayla Nisbet, before unleashing a powerful burst at the 300m mark to outpoint pacesetter Zakeriz ($7.50) by three quarters of a length.
It continued Pontmain's record on tracks rated soft or better after failing to handle some heavy tracks early in his career.
The French-bred stayer won his maiden impressively at Wagga in January, 2019, and backed that up with a second in a Highway Handicap in Sydney before injury kept him off the track for nearly 800 days.
He confronted Heavy9 or Heavy10 tracks for three straights runs earlier this year, before finding soft tracks more to his liking in two straight wins over 1600m at Wagga.
Pontmain now has three wins from nine career starts, and Donnelly said they have were always confident he would find his best once he found less rain-affected tracks.
He praised Nisbet for her patience in waiting to pull the trigger in the last furlong-and-a-half.
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"It was a terrific ride from Kayla," he said.
"That's probably as soft as he likes it. The track was in pretty good nick on Saturday and we probably missed the rain we thought we were going to get.
"There was six or seven weeks in between runs for his previous win, which I think suits him, and we were waiting for the dry tracks initially.
"He won his first race over 1600 so he goes well fresh, and it seems like a good distance for him too. He's a big horse and likes the big tracks like Wagga."
Fellow Wagga trainer Chris Heywood ensured locals claimed the first two winners of the card after Pillar of Strength ($9) dug deep to win the Black Swan Hotel Maiden Handicap (1600m).
Pillar of Strength settled into a nice spot just off the speed on the fence before finding plenty over the last 50 metres to hold off $3.40 favourite Blackall by just under half a length.
Meanwhile, leading Southern Districts jockey Blaike McDougall's move to Victoria has reaped dividends.
McDougall produced a flawless ride to steer the Peter Moody-trained Oxley Road ($4) to a win in the Group Two Caulfield Sprint on Saturday.
McDougall produced Oxley Road at the right time to hold off Malkovich ($4.80) in a two-horse war to secure his first group level success.
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