AS Doug Hewitt guided his 'little cheapie' Crazy Shippo to victory at the Bathurst Paceway on Wednesday it marked his 100th career win as a driver, but it was a milestone which could very easily never have occurred.
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When Hewitt was in the early stages of his driving career, sitting in the gig did not stack up to his other sporting interests - especially rugby league - and he gave it away after winning 10 of his 160 races.
But Hewitt returned in 2017 and since then he has developed a passion for a sport his family is heavily involved with. It came as a surprise when he was told he had reached the 100-win milestone.
"I had no idea at all, it's nothing you really keep a track on," he said.
"I only had two years when I was young and I wasn't real keen on driving then, so I hardly had any drives. I had about seven years off, I've only been back three years.
"I never thought I'd be close to it, so it was good to knock it off."
Hewitt made his driving debut on September 2, 2009, with Super Party, running sixth at the Bathurst Showground Paceway.
A week later he was given the chance to steer $2.60 favourite Alberts Charm while his older brother Jason took the reins of Super Party. It was a move which led Hewitt to his maiden win.
"The only reason I remember it is because we've got the photo in the little bar in our garage," Hewitt said of that victory.
"Bern and Cath [parents] were in America at the time and Jase was running things out here, so me and him were in the race. I won the race and he came second.
"Jase he used to drive Alberts Charm and I drove Super Party, so I think he helped me out with that drive. He looked after me there the big fella."
Since Hewitt made his return to the gig in 2017, he has driven in 846 races and won at nine different tracks.
While a bulk of his wins - 68 of them - have come at Bathurst, when he notched up his first Group level success in May last year it came at Dubbo.
Scarlet Babe took out the Group 3 Red Ochre Mares Classic Final.
"It was probably the biggest win I've been a part of, but there are other horses that have a sentimental value to me that make the wins a bit more special," Hewitt said.
"I had a horse going around here for awhile called Lord Denzel, a couple of the footy boys were in him which made his wins pretty special and the big fella The Mustang, he's one of my favourite horses along the way.
"But all the little wins for the special owners along the way as are good, they just love the sport."
The horse that helped Hewitt to his 100th win on Wednesday is a three-year-old Art Major x Our Narissa Franco colt called Crazy Shippo.
Hewitt is one of the part owners and his father Bernie the trainer. Crazy Shippo ($8.50) led all the way, holding off $3.10 favourite Sammi Dance - driven Jason Hewitt - for a 2.5m win.
"A couple of the footy boys are in that and myself, so it was a real good horse to bring it up on," Hewitt said.
"We actually bought a horse at the yearling sales which broke down and she's never going to race, so with the leftover money we bought him as a little cheapie. He's been a champion little horse for us.
"All the boys were pumped too, especially because some of them were actually allowed to go to the track last night. He's been really good for us."
Before the Bathurst Harness Racing Club's meeting finished, Hewitt had taken a step towards his next 100 winners as well, steering Rocknroll Girl ($3.30) to victory for his trainer-sister Gemma.
"Gem's only had her for a couple of weeks, she got her off a trainer down in Goulburn and she's come a long way pretty quick," he said.
"I thought she'd be a fairly good chance, but the way they ran the race just made it perfect for her. They went hard early and she sat back and did no work and then she came home over the top."