Doug Hewitt drives Ripp to place in final of Gold Chalice following heat win

The Bernie Hewitt-trained three-year-old had severely damaged a tendon in his leg, with his chances of returning to the track looking all but a distant dream.

But after a huge amount of work from the vets, owners and training team, the three-year-old gelding was able to start a race on March 2, his first start in 14 months.

Hewitt's son Doug would drive Ripp to victory at Bathurst that day and would follow it up with a third at the same track a week later.

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And Ripp's fine form since returning from injury was capped off on Monday, when he booked himself a spot in the final of the Gold Chalice after winning the first heat (1730 metre).

Understandably, Hewitt was thrilled with the three-year-old's victory.

"He's a horse that struck trouble as a two-year-old and had to have a year off," he explained.

"We weren't sure if he was ever going to race again. We took the long road with him and it's all paid dividends.

"The owners put a lot of time and effort into him, to bring him back. It's just surreal to get him back on the track."

"There wasn't much chance of racing him again but the vets out at Central West got him back to a very good hope. That gave us hope and he's just come back as the horse we thought he could be.

"It was a big dream to actually get him back for the three-year-old's. Today was a massive test for him and he passed it with flying colours."

Starting from barrier eight in the front row - a draw Hewitt labelled "the worst spot" he could've started from - Ripp was made to work for the result, as he fell towards the tail-end of the race early.

He remained towards the back of the pack for the majority of the race, before he made his move up the field as they turned for home.

Ripp would surge home to win, storming up on the outside to finish ahead of KerryAnn Morris' Muscle Bart ($2.60) and Hugh Cathels' Commander Buzz ($2.40 favourite) in second and third respectively.

"You couldn't ask for anything better from him. His work has been super. When he ran third, he actually ran super and he worked really hard that night, so we were pretty happy with that run," Hewitt said.

"Today, we didn't really know how he would run. He drew the worst spot he could of but he recovered from that.

"Hopefully we can get a decent draw in the final. He's one of those horses that'll be there right in the finish."

The final for Gold Chalice will be held on Friday, one of a number feature races at the big Bathurst Gold Crown final night.

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