Following an operation and six weeks confinement, the gritty horse recovered and rewarded the Bull's patient handling as Kelly Myers, a previous NZ Cup winning jockey, brought Mungo Jerry with the last run to secure the 3200m feature.
It was third timelucky as the horse was fourth in the cup three years ago and near-last in 2013, both times fading from promising positions on the turn for home.
Mungo Jerry only had his first runs earlier in the month over ground in preparation, coming third at Awapuni, while he filled a similar placing in the Listed Metropolitan Trophy on the opening day of the carnival.
Despite a solid form line, he went out at odds of 20-1 and courtesy of a new plan of attack he was too tough for his rivals.
"We had a plan - he's got a great sprint, but he doesn't always finish it off," said Myers. "So we decided to ride him for luck and give him every chance."
The jockey had Mungo Jerry toward the back of the field on the fence and rails runs continued to present themselves 1200m from home.
The outsider cut the corner into the straight and they drew clear in the closing 100m to take the honours by a length and a-quarter.
A nine-year veteran of the Cup, Esprit D'Or, fought on gallantly for second as Metropolitan winner She's Insatiable got up for third.
Horses from the wider-Wanganui region have now won the Group 3 NZ Cup for the last four years straight, as well as five out of the past seven, with the Myers family being at the forefront.
Spring Cheer came up trumps in the 150th running of the Cup last year for leading Wanganui trainer Kevin Myers and his jockey niece Rosie, the sister of Kelly.
Kelly Myers also had the winning ride at the 2008 Cup with Hoorang, owned and trained by the retired Ian Shaw.
The 2011-2012 Cups saw stunning back-to-back success for Blood Brotha on both wet and dry tracks, being trained by Whangaehu's Raymond Connors and co-owned with his father Mark.
