It was a day of celebration for the Hewitt family at Goulburn on Sunday, with the running of the annual Tom and Angela Hewitt Memorial.
Local trainer/driver Brad Hewitt was leading the celebration after notching up his 500th win in the sulky as well as taking out his grandparents' memorial race.
Starting the day on 499 driving victories, Hewitt had a handy book of steers ahead of him - not that he needed them all with his first drive of the day Im Captain Max NZ successful in providing him with the record feat.
"I had no idea, dad said on the way home from Menangle he heard Fred [Hastings] say it before a race on Saturday night," Hewitt admitted.
"It was good but I don't worry about that stuff too much.
"I was more worried about winning Nan and Grandad's race."
Hewitt took the reins on five-year-old Rockin Marty in the Goulburn Soldiers Club Tom and Angela Hewitt Memorial for trainer and father David Hewitt.
Second-up from a spell, the gelding began steadily from barrier seven to work forward and sit outside of the leader.
With a leisurely 31.4 first quarter run, the final three quarters were all run at a very quick pace of 27.6, 27.3 and home in 28.2.
Putting on a great display, Rockin Marty stuck on and found another gear when Hewitt asked, pulling away to win by 5.9 metres.
This gave Hewitt his third Tom and Angela Hewitt Memorial victory.
"We always like to try and have something around for it if we can, it's definitely one of the races on the calendar we all try to have a nice horse for and try to win," Hewitt said.
"That's the third one for me and I think between the four families we've won seven of the 10 runnings of it."
The win sets Hewitt in good stead ahead of the Goulburn Harness Racing Club's biggest event of the year: the Frank and Edna Day Carnival of Cups.
Scheduled for this weekend, Hewitt himself will have two horses run - The Texas Ranger and Our Triple Play - with younger brother Scott Hewitt set to drive Arma Naughty, who is owned by John and Kim Ridley.
Up for grabs in the titular Frank and Edna Day Goulburn Cup is a prize of $31,800. The race will also feature country racing sensation Bling It On, who holds the track record for the 2240 metre distance at Goulburn.
"He's a superstar horse, he's in the twilight of his career but he's a really outstanding horse," Goulburn Harness Racing Club secretary Mark Croatto said.
"He won the Walla Walla stakes last year, and he's won nearly two million dollars. He's one of the best horses on the country scene."
The Carnival of Cups will take place at the Goulburn Paceway on Sunday, January 17.
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