Danielle Lewis behind her favourite horse, Kiss Kenny.
Danielle Lewis loved horses. Not just her own, but all horses.
“Even ours, sometimes it’s hard to love someone else’s horses as much as your own – but she did,” said trainer/driver Simone Walker, who knew Dani better than most.
“She was always so kind to them, probably even a little too kind. She really loved them so much and took so much pride in how they were presented and how happy they were.”
Danielle Lewis died on Monday, September 15, at the Cranbourne Harness Racing Training Centre. She lost her life as a result of a tragic accident, and we may never know the specifics about why or how that occurred.
While you often hear the old cliché that someone “died doing what they loved”, for Dani, the statement couldn’t be truer.
The 28-year-old was mad about horses; they were her life.
Ever since she was a young teenager, Dani wanted to be in harness racing.
She attended the Gippsland Harness Training Centre, joining as a 15-year-old, and went on to spend time working with some top trainers, including abroad with leading New Zealand horseman Tony Herlihy.
She secured the gig with Herlihy off her own back, committed enough to travel overseas to try and get a foothold in the sport she loved.
Dani started driving in Australian races in the 2005-06 trots season, training and driving in every season thereafter.
A red letter date for Danielle was October 15, 2008.
Dani was at a run-of-the-mill Warragul meeting and piloted a horse called Gunnas Rule to victory – her first in the sulky – for trainer Ping Lam Chan.
It would have been an enormous thrill for the then 22-year-old.
Long-time mentor at the Gippsland Harness Training Centre, Des Hughes, said Dani would have received a lot of compliments after driving her first winner.
“People had been watching Dani for a long time. She was very, very popular,” Hughes said.
“She was 150 per cent committed to everything she did in harness racing and with horses. She worked in the gallops with Luke Oliver full-time for a while, too.
“She joined us when she was just 15 and you would not find a more committed person. And she was quite skilled from a young age. She’s one of the few that you can really hang your hat on and be proud of because she went on to achieve something.
“It takes a long time in this game if you’re not born into it and she worked very hard and was very dedicated to create a name for herself.
“It was only in the last few months that she’s really started kicking some goals with Kiss Kenny and that was a real thrill to see.”
As a reinswoman, Dani had 10 winners from 135 drives – eight of those coming in the 2013-14 season. Seven of the wins were behind her favourite horse, Kiss Kenny, for trainer Greg Hansen.
“She talked non-stop about it!” Simone chuckled when asked if Dani ever spoke about Kiss Kenny.
“She absolutely loved it. She’d say it was such a lovely horse.”
Dani steered Kiss Kenny to a Breeders Crown Repechage win at Kilmore last month, which came after she drove it to a win at Tabcorp Park Melton on August 2.
“Kiss Kenny always ran for her,” Simone says.
“You can see it in the results.
“It doesn’t happen with every horse but some definitely run much better for certain people. Kiss Kenny certainly knew when Dani was driving.”
Dani’s star was very much on the rise and the outpouring of tributes on social media since her tragic passing are testament of the high regard in which she was held by all those who knew her.
Simone says harness racing and looking after the horses was Dani’s true passion in life.
“She returned to school as a mature age student and was going to get into vet science. She would have comfortably done that too because she was a very smart girl,” she said.
Leading trainer Andy Gath spoke of his sadness upon hearing the news this week.
“I was fortunate enough to know Dani and it is a shock to everyone in the industry. She epitomises what most people are in trotting; she’s been in New Zealand, she’s travelled and worked for a lot of people and tried to make a go of it herself,” he said.
“It was just fortunate that Greg Hansen gave her the opportunity with Kiss Kenny and she’ll be remembered by the horse.
“We can all go back and look at the replays and see how happy that horse made her.”
Des Hughes says he’ll miss following Dani’s career.
“I’ve been watching her since she left. She was such a good kid; she stuck with us and we stuck with her.”
Harness Racing Victoria extends its condolences to Dani's family, friends and all who have been touched by her passing.
