After winning the Monticello Raceway training title by one
win on the final day of racing last year Danny Gill has emerged as a force to
be reckoned with. This year the 57 year old trainer is on a tear and has
already harnessed 125 winners, six more than it took to win the title last
season.
“I’ve got 27 horses on the grounds, most of them owned by
the Hall brothers, Ed and Jake. With a huge stable I’m able start a lot of
horses and have been lucky enough to rack-up a lot of wins,” Gill said.
Although Monticello Raceway only has live harness action
four days a week still Gill has been able to accumulate anywhere from five to
eight wins on an average weekly program.
His driver of choice is Jimmy Marohn, Jr. and his stalwart
horse this year has been Haroun Hanover, a claiming pacer who doesn’t
pull-up after the race is over and one who needs the starting gate to
stop him. That altered son of Bettor’s Delight has already won 18 races,
second best in North America..
“Before we got him last fall they were towing him and he
didn’t race very well. Although he’s real hard to get along with on the
track we manage to jog him early in the morning when there aren’t many horses
around. It seems to have done the trick because he’s been a terror in the
10,000-$12,500 claimers here,” Gill said.
But Gill says his best horse is the 5-year-old pacing mare
Rock N Load who races at Yonkers Raceway because there are no classes for her
at the Mighty M.
“She races at Yonkers (Raceway) in non-winners of
$25,000(in) last six (starts) and two weeks ago she won in 1:54.2 at
Yonkers with Brian Sears driving,” Gill explained. “This year she’s already
earned over $66,000.”
Before coming to Monticello Raceway two years ago Danny Gill
raced at Plainridge Racecourse in Massachusetts and in Delaware at Dover
Downs and Harrington Raceway. He was relatively unknown which is probably
not a fair assessment since Gill had over 500 training wins prior to his move
to the Mighty M. However, in one and a half seasons here he has harnessed
257 winners, a number which will grow before the curtain comes down here
on December 31.
And speaking of the curtain coming down it darn near did on
Gill.
“About two and a half months ago I was jogging and in got a
pain in my chest which felt like someone was hitting on me,” he related. “It
went away after a while but that pressure came back later that night so I drove
myself to the hospital and they admitted me immediately.
“They determined I had clogged arteries and they moved me
later that night to Westchester Medical (in Valhalla, NY) where the next day I
had triple by-pass surgery.
Asked if he was afraid to go under the knife Gill admitted
that didn’t bother him nearly as much as his diagnosis did.
“I’m a real lucky guy because five days later I not only was
out of the hospital but back at the barn. Oh, I didn’t do any work there
I just was there making sure everything was done correctly. You know, no
shorting,” he joked.
Although he supervised at the barn he still went to the
paddock when his stock raced.
“ I didn’t do anything physical at the barn or even in the
paddock but I did ride to cart to the winners circle for a picture when
my horses won.”
And Danny got lots of rides.
However Gill is back in full action and has
been-perhaps foolishly so—for the past six or seven weeks.
Earlier this year Gill and fellow trainer Bob
Lounsbury, whose Tracys Song has 21 wins this season, were vying for top
training honors but lately Gill has pulled ahead by some 20 victories. They kid
with each other daily and Lounsbury jokes that his UTR (training
average-.490) is better than Gill’s (.420).
“If I can’t out-train you I‘ll out-start you,” Gill told
Lounsbury jokingly and then adds, “We get along great and are good friends.”
To many Gill may seem like a ‘Johnny Come Lately’ but that
is so far from the truth. He grew up in the sport.
“My mom, Betty Gill, was a driver,” he said. “She was great
woman driver when few women were even in the sport. She won over 800
races.”
But Gill’s knowledge wasn’t limited to what he learned from
his mom.
“I spent eight years on the Grand Circuit working for Del
Miller, Glen Garnsey and Howard Beissinger. I learned from the best,”
Those who have attended the races at Monticello, or have seen
Mighty M simulcasts perhaps have noticed that Gill is always wearing an
orange colored t-shirt when having his picture taken in the winner’s
circle.
“I have over 40 of them and I wear them because I know they
bring me luck,” he said.
That may be the case. Luck is great but talent goes a long
way
