It was Doug Hewitt - a sporting talent who balances his work in the harness racing industry with being captain-coach of Group 10 defending premiers Bathurst Panthers - who first worked with the gelding bred by his sister Gemma Hewitt.

However, when it came to Kashed Up's first trial it was Bernie Hewitt who sat in the gig. Since then he has been the one to steer him, with a win a third in his two race starts.

And Harry Potter jokes aside, he a two-year-old all of the Hewitts are hoping will qualify for this year's Group 1 Gold Crown Final.

"Doug did a lot of the early work with him when we had big numbers around here, but Dad jumped on him for his first trial and he won't get off him," Gemma Hewitt, who trains Kashed Up, said.

"Doug said 'I should never have got off him in that trial because now Dad won't get off him'. But it is nice to have Dad driving, he's got a lot of experience with the babies and is helping me out a lot."

As well as training Kashed Up, Hewitt also bred the gelding she hopes will shine in the two-year-old colts and geldings feature.

His mother is a mare the Georges Plains trainer purchased "over the internet four or five years ago" called Laughing Lilly.

She opted for NSW stallion For A Reason as the sire as she had series' such as the Gold Crown in mind.

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Making that final will not be easy - Kashed Up must win his heat on Friday to be guaranteed a shot at the $100,000 decider. But Hewitt feels he is a good prospect.

"I definitely think he is, I think out of Dad's team too, his colts and geldings, we hold this fella in the highest regard," she said.

"There's nothing flash to look at about him or anything, but he's just got a really good turn of foot and he does everything like a really nice, old race horse. He takes everything in his stride.

"Around Christmas we had a really rough patch with him and he was doing a lot wrong. In his first green trial he done things wrong too. But in his first qualifying trial he put it all together and he hasn't looked back."

Kashed Up has drawn barrier nine for his Gold Crown heat on Friday, the only runner to go from the back row.

But no matter what happens when the barriers fold back, Hewitt thinks Kashed Up has the talent to adapt.

"He went back in his first run and in his second run he came out and worked forward to the death. Then Monday night we really pushed him off the arm in the trial to see how he'd go and his gate speed and he really come out fast and did everything right," she said.

"So he is versatile, he's done it a lot of different ways already and in his trial he proved he's got a lot of gate speed. If you've got that gate speed, at least you're in a position to get yourself a good spot and hopefully get around any trouble too."