Gemma Hewitt on the Group 1 chase.
BATHURST’S Gemma Hewitt is quickly rising through the ranks of New South Wales trainers, despite only training six horses at any one time.
This year, Gemma has achieved an amazing feat, qualifying her horses for five Group 1 Finals, something that much more experienced trainers would be ecstatic to achieve.
Her talented three-year-old, Kashed Up led the charge by making his way into the New South Wales Derby, where he ran out of his skin to finish fourth.
Just three weeks later, Kashed Up almost gave Gemma her biggest prize to date when he just failed by a head to catch Idyllic in Bathurst’s rich Gold Chalice Final.
That placing took Kashed Up’s earnings to almost $88,000 from four wins and eight placings.
Hewitt’s two-year-old, Amami was her third Group 1 finalist and while he finished back in the middle half of the field, just to make an Australian Pacing Gold Bullion Final was extremely satisfying.
Tonight, Gemma gets her best chance to capture that elusive Group 1 when she prepares two of her pacers, Keayang Kreuzer and Kash Us Back for the TAB Regional Championships – Western Final at Bathurst’s Gold Crown Paceway.
Hewitt was modest when asked to comment on both her horses’ chances tonight but at the same time there was a hint of confidence filtering through.
“Both my two horses’ runs in the heats were really good,” said Gemma.
“Keayang Kreuzer really did a good job on a quick back-up from racing at Menangle four days earlier while Kash Us Back was impressive when recording the quickest time of the six heats.
“They’ve both drawn well, and I am not complaining but actually it would have been ideal if their draws were reversed as Kash Us back loves racing in on the pegs.
“I think Kreuzer is the best horse in the race and will benefit from having Luke McCarthy on board.
“Kash became extremely ill as a yearling and battled to survive.
“The vets told me he only had have a 20 per cent chance of racing but he is now five-years-old and just when I thought his career was slowing down, here he is in a $100,000 race.
“I am immensely proud of what my little team has done so far.
“A win tonight would be the icing on the cake.”
