South Australian champ taking a break for surgery

Champion South Australian harness racing driver Danielle Hill gave a typically polished performance at her Globe Derby home track Saturday night (May 6), piloting a double before heading off for major surgery this week.

The popular reinswoman has spent most of the past 20 years in the top echelon of drivers in her home State, and her record stands in the top level in Australia.

She’s driven more than 100 winners in each of the past 10 seasons (including her best, 223 in 2019-20) and has 2269 career wins, including six Group Two and four Group Three races.

But Hill’s career has also been marred by a number of serious falls and injuries, most recently in January this year when she suffered a compound fracture of the spine and herniated discs.

“The surgery’s penciled in for this Wednesday and so hopefully that will still go ahead.  It will be a relief to get it fixed finally,” Hill told HRSA commentator Tim Edwards in an interview after driving her first winner on Saturday night, trotter Lovelorn (Love You).

“The surgeon has recommended a minimum of six months off driving after the surgery, but (whether I will come back to race driving), we’ll just wait and see how the surgery goes,” she said.

Two races later, Hill scored her second win for the night with Pay Me Interest (Gotta Go Cullen).

Hill admitted she had been struggling for a while with long-term injuries, but the January fall had intensified her challenges.

“That night when I fell, I just thought ‘wow, that’s really painful’,” she said.”

“I was lucky I was able to keep driving, but it’s very uncomfortable. Sometimes I have to help my legs, to lift them when I get into the cart, and it’s not very nice for people to see you slide in and lift your legs in.  It’s amazing, though, once the adrenalin kicks in I can get through the race.

“I’m not walking real well, but I have a lot of fun doing what I do, and I’ve just had to put up with it so I can keep driving.”

As much as she loves the sport, Hill is taking a “wait and see” attitude.

“I just want to get through the surgery and recover and see what happens after that,” she said.

“I’ve had a lot of really good races, driven for some great trainers and driven some beautiful horses, so at the end of the day, if the surgeon recommends that I shouldn’t drive, then I’ve had a really good time.”

Despite the injury, Hill is still leading the South Australian driving premiership this season, with 60 wins, 22 clear of her brother Wayne.

“It’s probably his best chance to win it when I’m out – but I have had five and a half months off before and still been able to win it, so we will see how he goes!” Hill laughed.”

by Terry Gange, for Harnesslink