BERNIE Hewitt has added a Bathurst Gold Tiara to go along with the Gold Crown he won four years ago, taking out the latest edition of the Group 1 two-year-old fillies classic on Friday night with Jewel Melody.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$1/
(min cost $8)
Login or signup to continue reading

Jewel Melody ($3.10, Bernie Hewitt) fought all the way to the line in one of the closest finishes of the night, holding off Eve Crocker ($34, Jack Callaghan) by a half head to take out the $110,000 fillies feature.
The victory also came just a half hour after Bernie Hewitt's son Doug drove Ripp to a maiden Group 1-winning drive in the Gold Chalice.
Between those two results Hewitt said it was one of the greatest nights of his racing career.
"Winning two Group 1 races in half an hour is just amazing," he said.
"Seeing Dougy get his first one is great, and so was getting the double in the training ranks."
Jewel Melody copped an early bump from the horse that would eventually duel her for the race honours, Eve Crocker, and it forced him and his filly out wide into the breeze.
From there Hewitt decided to power ahead to the front of the race, which could have been a risky move for the filly if she burned up too much energy doing so.
Hewitt said he had to do some adjustments to his plan after the contact forced him to make an early business decision.
"I got a fairly bad check up on the home turn before the home straight with a lap to go and it sort of forced my hand a little bit," he said.
"I was always going to make a mid-race move but when I had to swerve to avoid a bit of trouble it was my time to go then. There was no sense settling her back into a position after that.
"For her to sustain a run for that long on a big track like this is an impressive effort. She just seems so professional and she keeps getting better and better. Her work's been super and I'm hoping she'll have a great season."
The final 50 metres were nervous times for Hewitt as Callaghan's challenge looked to cause an upset.
"I thought I might have got there, and I got a bit more confidence when Jack Callaghan on the other horse said 'I think you held me'," Hewitt said.
"He had a smaller horse and his cart was up close to it and I've got a longer horse and longer cart so I was thinking that I probably got there. It was really pleasing to get back home and see our number up there."
Jewel Melody completes the set of Bathurst two-year-old trophies for Hewitt, as it follows on from College Chapel famously ending his long search for success in his major home event in 2018.
Nathan Hurst's Call Me Millie ($51) produced an eye catching run from deep in the field for the Eglinton trainer to pip race favourite Treasure Stride ($1.70 favourite, Nathan Jack) for third place.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News