Lyle Hewitson made a winning return to his homeland of South Africa when taking out the Group One World Pool Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes (1,600m) aboard Erik Dubois at Greyville on Sunday.
Trainer Louis Goosen secured his first Group One victory after 35 years in the ranks thanks to the two-year-old son of Erik The Red, who overcame his double-figure quote to record just his second career win from five starts after breaking his maiden on debut.
Three-time South African champion jockey Hewitson was thrilled to celebrate the victory on one of the biggest days of racing in the country, surrounded by friends and family including his one-year-old son Myles.
“Very, very happy, it was special; it was the trainer’s first Group One winner and he’s been training for 35 years, so it was just really, really nice,” Hewitson said.
“It was fantastic and I had all the family down, so it was just amazing. It’s the first time Myles has been in the winner’s box, never mind for a Group One, so that was awesome. We had all of them down there. Because it was Louis’ first Group One, he had a tear in his eye, which I just thought made it so special. The moment was his – it was great.”
