Brilliantly ridden by Swan Hill jockey Harry Coffey, Wentwood ($8.50) outlasted a surging Smokin' Romans (Ciaron Maher and David Eustace) and Taramansour (Matt Cumani) to claim an emotional victory in the $400,000 Group 3 Bendigo Cup (2400m).

The win was the richest of the gelding's four cup wins.

A golden run for Raymond and her much-loved stayer started in last year's $25,000 St Arnaud Cup, when he was also ridden by Coffey.

He followed up with victories in the $125,000 Werribee Cup in December and $70,000 Terang Cup in April (both ridden by Damian Lane), earning him Country Racing Victoria horse of the year honours in 2020-21.

Raymond declared Wentwood 'spot-on' in the lead-up to Bendigo, but it was the young trainer whose assessment proved to be every bit as precise as her horse.

"It was nearly 12 months ago that he won the St Arnaud Cup and that was a sigh of relief," she said.

"To get here today and win this race and see how well he is relaxing is a huge achievement from the whole team at home.

"I just wanted to see him relax. Obviously barrier one was a bit of question. He likes a bit of room but he's come a long way. Harry gave him the perfect ride.

"The key to him is getting him to switch off which he did do today.

"There were a few moments there where they steadied and I thought we might be in a bit of trouble. I thought Harry will have worked for that one today.

Raymond said it was a huge thrill seeing how far the horse had come in a short time and a huge result for his 'great owners' and great for the stable.

"His attitude and racing manners is probably what held him back," she said.

"To finally iron that out a little bit, I still think that he's got plenty of improvement.

"He seemed like he still got on his toes a little bit for a few moments there, but it was super exciting."

While the Bendigo and Ballarat cups were always the plan, Raymond, who has been a trainer under her own name for two years, said a tilt at the MacKinnon Stakes on the final day of the Flemington carnival was an option.

"We'll get him home and assess. We had the option to throw a nomination in for the Mackinnon," she said.

"That is 10 days away and it might come around a bit soon.

"He does like his runs spaced a little bit, but he does bounce through his runs well at the moment.

"We'll get him home and assess."

Wentwood's win gave Coffey, who considers Bendigo as his 'second home' his first win in the Group 3 feature.

The 26-year-old, who picked up the ride in the wake of an eight-day suspension for Lane, was made to fight every inch the way for victory.

"I'm actually a bit physically buggered. He's not an easy ride and I will admit I didn't get him to relax very well at all," he said.

"He was really running on me the whole race and I was lucky there was a strong tempo the whole race with Tooradin. And when Constantinople got caught wide we put a bit more pressure on.

"I was lucky that happened because if Michael (Poy on Constantinople) didn't then Linda (Meech on Tooradin) would have been able to give her horse a rest.

"What did we do? We only won by an inch. That's how the game works.

"Things fell into place and I must admit I didn't think I'd won. I was pretty physically buggered and I thought at least I rode it good."

A Bendigo Cup win is a dream come true for Coffey.

"It is one of my favourite races. I've spent a lot of time around Bendigo and do a lot of work this way," he said.

"When you live in Swan Hill you're driving through Bendigo a fair bloody bit. I know the town well.

"I'd just like to thank Maddie and the connections for the ride.

"(There are) a lot of riders in the jockeys' room at the moment but they gave me a spin and it is awesome to get the result."

The favourite Smokin' Romans was brave in defeat.

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