Making the trip from Bathurst to Dubbo to drive in just the one race might not seem like an ideal Father's Day but Sunday couldn't have been much more special for Bernie Hewitt.
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In a heat of the Soho Valencia NSWBC series for two-year-old fillies, Hewitt drove in the same race as his three children for the first time.
And to just make it that bit more memorable, the race finished in a dead heat between father and son.
The Doug Hewitt-driven Beta Jewel ($21) lifted late on and drew level with the Bernie-driven Iamajoyride ($1.40 favourite) as they passed the post.
The trainer-driver's other children, Jason and Gemma, finished fourth and sixth with Ulaanbaatar ($3.80) and Somethingaboutlexy ($9) respectively.
"We had all four in and all went pretty good so that was a bit different," Bernie said.
"Someone pointed it out in the days before and it was a special moment, especially on Father's Day. You couldn't have planned it any better.
"It was a decent race too, worth $10,000, so was special for all of us."
While he led for the entire 1720m trip on Sunday at Dubbo, Bernie thought he and Iamajoyride had missed out on the win in the final stride.
Doug and Beta Jewel had to plenty of work at the start after going from gate six but after being three-wide early managed to get across and sit outside Iamajoyride.
He stuck close for the rest of the trip and while the favourite managed to move a little clear as they entered the straight for the final time, Beta Jewel wouldn't go away and in a gutsy performance surged in the final few metres.
Lou Cee (Andrew Cassell, $26) was third.
"When I gave my filly the slip I got a half-length ahead but I thought they got me on the line," Bernie said.
"Doug had thought he'd won and the caller did too but she must have stuck out her head ... it's better than running second."
While it was a shock result, the Hewitt team wasn't stunned to see Beta Jewel run such a strong race as a $21 chance.
"They're probably the best two fillies we've got, going forward," Bernie said.
"We knew they'd been working equally well and we'd said there wasn't much between them but you wouldn't believe a dead heat."
Iamajoyride has four wins and three minors in 10 starts while it's two wins and a placing in nine for Beta Jewel.
The pair now advance on to the next stage of the series, with the finals to be run later in the year at Menangle.
The three-year-old series will be run at Parkes next Sunday.