All eyes will be on Mission Brief in Saturday’s Elegantimage Stakes, but Danielle Hall is slowly starting to find the stride that banked her over $500,000 as a two-year-old.
The daughter of Deweycheatumnhowe will start from Post 6 in the $404,000 Elegantimage Stakes for Jody and Carl Jamieson. Last season, Danielle Hall won the $250,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Super Final and finished second in the $500,000 Breeders Crown.
All signs pointed towards another strong year for the trotting filly, but a setback earlier this season slowed down the Jamieson trainee.
“She qualified in (1:) 55 at the start of the year and just looked like a monster,” said Jody. “She hurt her knee somehow and then she was in Guelph for a long time.”
Danielle Hall missed two months of racing after being scratched from an OSS Gold event on June 18.
The Ontario Sired filly returned to the races on August 24 in a conditioned event, but made a break. However, the break would not be a sign of things to come, as Danielle Hall has recovered to put together three good starts since.
In last week’s Elegantimage elimination, Danielle Hall finished second over the ‘sloppy’ track to Mission Brief, who won by 15 lengths and trotted in 1:54.1 over the track listed three seconds off.
“We were very happy to finish second and to get into the final,” said Jamieson. “She’s a work in progress; she’s getting stronger and tighter all the time, but the trip Mission Brief went was a monstrosity, it was unbelievable.”
Danielle Hall was individually timed in 1:57.1 and Mission Brief’s winning time was almost two seconds faster than Muscle Baby Doll’s 1:56 victory in the first elimination.
“I looked at it compared to the other horses that raced in the other elimination and I think she’s going to be competitive,” said Jamieson. “I think we are all racing for second, hopefully we will be second, but if something happens and if she stays good and keeps progressing on she’s got a shot to get good money for sure.”
Owned by Carl Jamieson and Thomas Kyron, Danielle Hall has missed each OSS Gold event this season, but a strong performance in the final Gold event on September 29 at Mohawk could earn her enough points to qualify for the Super Final. The daughter of Deweycheatumnhowe is also eligible to the Breeders Crown at Woodbine in October.
While there is still plenty of money out there to be won, Danielle Hall could make up for the two-months she missed and grab a solid pay day Saturday. Jamieson is hopeful she can finish the year off strong.
“She’s a great mare, she tries her heart out all the time and just keeping our fingers crossed she stays good the rest of the year.”
To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at Mohawk, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Mohawk Racetrack.
(WEG)