Career milestone for Champion driver Dani Hill
Champion South Australian reinswoman Danielle Hill achieved a career milestone when Cadence Lane won at Globe Derby Park on Monday.
It was her 2500th winning drive over a 25-year career in the sulky.
Cadence Lane ($2.15 fav) led throughout in the Jojubi Saddlery Trotters Mobile (1800m) for trainer Ryan Hryhorec beating stablemate Tiney ($3.70) by 4-1/2 metres with Janes Gem ($10), a similar margin away third.
“I am very proud to have reached that figure,” Hill said.
“The journey has not been without its setbacks, but I love driving and it is certainly a milestone number.”
Hill’s courage to overcome serious injuries saw her win the Sports SA Tanya Denver Award for courage and sportsmanship in 2015 but her successes in the sulky are legendary.
The 41-year-old is a seven-time leading driver in South Australia, won an Australian Junior Drivers Championship in 2010 and won the inaugural Australian Female Drivers Championship in 2018 winning five of the nine heats and five times has driven an amazing six winners at a meeting.
But it is her injuries which make everyone open-mouthed at her courage to keep coming back.
Her first serious fall was in 2010 when she suffered a broken jaw, cheekbone and nose, nasty facial injuries and a severed optic nerve which left Hill blind in her right eye.
“There wasn’t a mark on my helmet,” Hill said. “The horse stepped on my face. It was a horrible experience at such an early age, looking in the mirror and seeing my face through all the operations and navigating life without sight in one eye.
“The one thing I’ve got to be grateful for is how it made me appreciate the things that matter most.”
The champion driver defied medical opinion and came back to again reach the pinnacle of her profession.
Then came a fall in the 2019 SA Derby when a leg was shattered and she had 13 screws in the tibia and a ‘tech’ screw put in to hold the patella tendon to her knee cap.
Another fall in 2023 saw Hill have back surgery which looked to signal the end but after nearly 12 months on the sideline, the champion reinswoman was back again, doing what she does best, driving winners.
On Monday, she had Cadence Lane away quickly from five to find the front and she rated the five-year-old mare perfectly to sprint away for a comfortable win.
Trainer Ryan Hryhorec said the winner had been a steady improver.
“Everyone thinks she is a mobile specialist, but she is also a good beginner from a stand,” Hryhorec said.
“I will keep her going around while she is in good form.”
Hryhorec brought up an early double when So Vogue led throughout in the Aldebaran Park Trotters Mobile (2230m).
Hryhorec drove So Vogue himself and the seven-year-old mare, the $2 favourite, held the front from gate one and sprinted strongly over the final 400 metres to win by 3-1/2 metres from Hayoak ($4) with Mojito Madness ($12), nine metres away third.
A winner of five races in a row recently, Hryhorec said he would probably give So Vogue a chance on the Cups circuit in the coming weeks.
Danielle Hill’s brother Wayne, also a highly successful driver, brought up his 2461st win when Big Black Betty led throughout in the Bargain Steel Centre Pace (2230m).
The $3 equal favourite, Big Black Betty had a head to spare from the fast-finishing Rolling Remona ($41) with Captain Barnato ($3 eq fav), 1-1/2 metres away third.
The seven-year-old mare is trained by Jill Neilson & Katie Wilson at Penfield.
She was bred and is owned by Geoff Easom’s Wyndown Stud.
Neilson said Big Black Betty had gone to stud last year but failed to get in foal and would be given a light preparation this year before being let down to become a broodmare.
- story Graham Fischer
- photo Walter Bulyga