Harness couple navigating new challenge after newborn’s hospital scare

By Andrew Smith

Harness racing duo Gemma Hewitt and Brendan Barnes are used to experiencing plenty of nervous moments while competing in the sport they love.

But that pales in comparison to the agonising wait they endured in hospital when baby son Benji was born on April 28 this year.

The Group 1 winners, who drive and train their team of horses at their base in Haigslea, were ecstatic to fall pregnant in late 2025.

But 34 weeks into the pregnancy, Hewitt discovered she had been diagnosed with pre-eclampsia.

It is a serious medical condition that causes high blood pressure and can affect organs like the liver, kidneys and brain.

For the busy driver-trainer, the diagnosis brought her hectic schedule to a sudden stop.

“It was a little bit of a shock - I was just at the races one day, and I’d dealt with quite a bit of swelling and vomiting the whole pregnancy,” Hewitt said.

“I was diagnosed with the pre-eclampsia in hospital, but I was allowed to come home, and I was put on bed rest and medication.

“The bed rest was as much as I could, but I did slow down a lot at that point, and then at 36 weeks, the blood pressure took another bad turn.”

It was at that point that the medical team at St Andrew's Hospital in Ipswich decided to deliver Benji via an emergency caesarean section.

But the couple were not prepared for the harrowing moments that followed the birth, resulting in the 34-year-old mother being unable to meet her newborn for over a day.

“I was put on a magnesium sulphate drip to stop seizures from the pre-eclampsia, and it made Benji flatline,” Hewitt explained.

“He stopped breathing for three minutes, and I was still on the table getting sewn up, and then he got taken away to the special care nursery, and I got taken to ICU.

“It was a rough day and a rough night not really knowing what was going on between both of us, and we were in different areas of the hospital.

“Poor Brendan was with Benji for most of it, so that was good, but I finally met him after about 30 hours the next day.

“It was nice to finally meet him and be reunited, and we were both healthy by then, so we were lucky.”

Barnes recalls how he had made the mercy dash back to hospital in time for the birth.

The uncertainty surrounding Benji’s health had led to an agonising 24 hours for the pair.

“Everything was fine for a little bit when he came out - he made a couple of noises, and then flatlined for three minutes, it wasn't a good time,” Barnes said.

“It was pretty terrifying, really, we just both were laying there and we thought we'd lost him, and we didn't know what was going on.

“There were doctors and nurses running in everywhere, and we didn't know what we were dealing with.

“I felt the saddest for Gem, she didn't know and she didn't have a phone as she was in recovery.

“I didn't have it in me to ask the doctors if he was out of the woods for about three or four hours…I was sitting there staring at him, and I was too scared to know if he was good or not.

“But they finally said that he was doing really well, and it was all great from there.”

After six days in recovery, the couple were finally able to take Benji home from hospital.

From there, they have been steadily adjusting to juggling parenthood and the team of 60 horses on the property, which they moved to from Logan Village in early 2025.

While they have admitted it has presented a raft of new challenges, Hewitt is enjoying one of the most successful seasons of her training career, with 46 wins and 88 placings so far in the 2026 campaign.

“It's definitely our best season to date - probably buying the new property and expanding our operations has got a lot to do with that,” Hewitt said.

“I'm not going to lie, it's been difficult, and it's probably slowed me down a lot more than I'd expected.

“Before when I got up, it was a matter of having a coffee, making the bed, and getting to work, but now there's about 20 hurdles to jump before Benji and I get out the door.

“We get up, and Brendan obviously starts early, and the staff start early, and I'm still doing the night shifts with Benji, and losing quite a bit of sleep at the moment.

“So we head up in the pram, and I help out in the shed and do what I can…I like doing the horse feeds and cleaning up and stuff like that.

“It's just a big adjustment to life, and I'm sure we'll get back on our feet one day…but I am back at work now, and we're navigating it together.”

The 29-year-old Barnes is now well adjusted to doing the two-hour journey from Haigslea to Albion or Redcliffe to drive at the races and saddle up the stable’s horses.

Hewitt paid tribute to her fiancé in keeping the operation ticking over as well as embracing the new role of fatherhood.

“He’s a great father - he's really taken over and stepped up for both of us,” Hewitt said.

“It was a big operation with the two of us, but I've really had to take a back seat and slow down and be a mum, and he's so amazing with that.

“He races every day, home late, he's up early, he works all day, and he shoes all the horses, and his support's been amazing.

“He just says, ‘your job's to be a mum and come up to the stables when you're ready, and I'll be waiting’.

“And I think it makes his day when we get up the back and we're all there working together again.”

Equally, Barnes was full of praise for Hewitt as they navigate their new chapter of life together.

For the Group 1-winning reinsman, welcoming Benji into the world has offered him a fresh perspective on his career.

“Every day you want to race and you want to have a good day, but regardless how bad the day is, you come home and he cracks a smile at you,” Barnes said.

“He doesn't know you've had a bad day, so everything's forgotten about and everything's good after that.

“Gemma is a great mum - she took a lot of slowing down and she's always been a workaholic, and it’s all she’s loved doing.

“We had to force her to stop a little bit, but Benji's her number one priority.

“She's really been a great mum, and even just a great partner too, the way she does everything for me and everything for Benji.

“We couldn't ask for a better person, or a better mother for him.”

Both hail from promiment harness racing families, with Hewitt the daughter of Bathurst legends, Bernie and Cath, as well as being the sister of Jason and Doug.

Barnes’ father Alistair also trains, while his brother Hayden is a former driver.

With that strong lineage in mind, the couple laughs when asked if Benji will follow into the family business.

“It’s funny, I think we all try to navigate and think that we won't let our kids be a part of such a hardworking lifestyle and things like that,” Hewitt said.

“Even myself, I've ventured away from the sport three or four times, but I think you always make your way back.

“I know I'm fourth generation in my family, so I think once it's in your blood, it's in your blood.

“He's going to grow up here on the property and do it every day with us, and obviously, it's going to be his choice.

“But if he's anything like the pair of us, I think he'll be involved.”

Hewitt is yet to make a return to full-time training, and admits she is unlikely to return to race driving at this stage.

For Barnes, who has already enjoyed 59 wins in the sulky so far this year, he will continue to push on in a bid to surpass last year’s tally of 124.

The stable has a two-year-old trotter called Benny that they are hoping can deliver more victories for them in the back half of the season.

“He's going to be set at a feature race later in the year…he's probably our best chance of winning a good race this year,” Barnes said.

“Each year I strive to beat the year before, so it'd be good if we could get around the 70 or so winners for the year, that'd be a good year.

“Our numbers have dropped a little bit since Benji, and there's no real signs of any new ones coming.

“But you know this game, you can be down and out, and all of sudden you get 10 horses that show up in a week.

“We're really happy where things are at, and want to just keep showing up and doing the best for ourselves and for the owners, and winning as many races we can.”