A change of heart keeps Brenna Gill in the barn
by Chris Lomon
While every victory is a cherished one for caretaker Brenna Gill, a particular type of win stands above all others in her world.
Although it might be difficult to distinguish any difference in the smile she wears as she walks one of her horses to the winner’s circle, Gill, wife of longtime trainer Daniel Gill, has a certain affinity for those who defy the odds, literally and figuratively.
“When you send one out who is the underdog and you see them coming down the stretch and see they have a shot to win it – you do get loud,” Brenna said. “I always root for the underdog. They try so hard. I really admire the ones who try their hardest. Maybe they aren’t the fastest ones in your barn, but they go out there and try the best they can.”
They also let Brenna know what they have accomplished.
“They drag you to the barn a bit more after the race and they seem to look for the cookies a little more, too,” she said. “Seeing them win and when they come back to you – it never gets old. It really doesn’t and it never will.”
While she did have a connection to racehorses, becoming a mainstay in standardbred racing was not her original goal.
But, through a series of twists and turns, Brenna eventually found herself walking the shedrow and working in the barn.
“My grandparents had racehorses,” she said. “They had horses back in the Green Mountain days, when Foxboro Raceway was known as Bay State Raceway. They also raced at Rockingham Park, Scarboro and Lewiston.”
When Brenna’s mother was pregnant with her, horses played a role in what she would be named.
“At first, it was unknown whether I was going to be a Brenna after Brenna Hanover or Bret after Bret Hanover – that’s how I came to be known as Brenna,” she said. “I went on and completed my high school years and some college. I was always around horses, but I got a full-time job. I enjoyed being around the barn, grooming the horses, but I was never really hands-on until I met Danny.”
Thirteen years ago, the couple had to contend with an unexpected, life-altering moment.
“I would come to Monticello every other weekend to see Danny, but in 2013, he had a heart attack,” Brenna said. “I took a family medical leave and ran the barn with Craig Mosher, who was his second trainer. Craig took over the training duties and I stayed on, helping in whatever way I could.”
Each day, Brenna immersed herself in learning about horses and the sport itself.
Early mornings and late nights did nothing to derail her pursuit of a well-rounded equine education. Instead, the more hours she spent in the barn emboldened her.
Little by little, she picked up new skills and put them in motion.
“At that point, I had never harnessed a horse in my life,” she said. “I figured out how to do it and Craig, and I raced eight horses the first day after Dan had suffered his heart attack.”
Despite all the stresses and uncertainties at the time, Brenna found clarity in where she belonged, career-wise.
“I stayed in the barn after that,” she said. “I was making vet appointments, blacksmith appointments and if they needed to be shipped somewhere, I was on the phone getting that done. When the family medical leave was over, I had to make a decision. I decided that working with animals and the risk of being bitten or kicked by a horse was better than punching a clock.”
She has zero regrets about her decision.
“It’s been great to be able to work with Danny, to see him recover and get back to doing what he loves,” Brenna said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”
Nor would she trade the opportunity to work with horses, in spite of the most challenging part associated with her role.
“The best part is being in the barn when it is just me and the horses, and it is quiet,” she said. “I can hear them munching on their hay and they are happy. The worst part is having to say goodbye for whatever reason, whether they are done with their racing career, they are claimed or something out of your control happens where they just don’t come back to you.
“It’s not the money. It’s the memories. They are all unique and interesting individuals.”
Take the bay mare Rock N Load, for example.
The daughter of Rocknroll Hanover out of the Life Sign mare Loch Laggan would race 192 times — not all for the Gills — winning on 36 occasions and recording purse earnings of $625,797.
One of her victories came on Aug. 23, 2013, at Yonkers Raceway. With Daniel Dube at the controls, Rock N Load, in a fillies and mares open handicap, got up in the last strides to win by a neck in 1:53.4 at 34-1, the longest shot on the board.
It was exactly the type of underdog performance that Brenna treasures.
“She came to us unexpectedly from a longtime owner we trained for – but she had been with another trainer,” she said. “We never expected to get a horse like her. She took my husband and I to places we never thought we would race at. She was such a professional. She knew she was a good horse. She was great with everything and a great mare to be around.
“I can remember eating McDonalds French fries. She would kick when you would hook her to race, but she wouldn’t kick when it was a warm-up or jog. If she didn’t kick the night she was racing, you knew something was off with her. It’s just those certain little things you recall.”
Watching her beloved mare leave the barn still brings out the emotions in Brenna.
“We sent her to Ohio to get bred and that was one of the toughest goodbyes,” she said. “I knew I would never see her again. I knew I would miss her every day.”
Brenna’s unconditional love for her horses has not gone unnoticed.
On Dec. 7, at the 66th Awards banquet of the Monticello-Goshen Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA), she was named Caretaker of the Year for 2025.
“It was a shock, really,” Brenna said. “I wasn’t expecting it at all. There are a lot of amazing caretakers in this business, and we all take pride in the way we take care of our horses – making sure they are happy and that they look good.”
Above all else, win or lose, is welcoming each horse back to their respective stall at the end of each race card.
“You want to see them go and do their best each day,” Brenna said. “When you send them out on the track, you want them to do well, but the first thing in your mind is that they come back safe and sound. We’re all competitors, so you are disappointed when you expect to win, but you are always happy for the person next to you because we all know how hard this business is.”
A business where favorites and longshots both have the opportunity to reach the wire first and stables, big or small, can always dream big with the turn of the calendar.
“I always hope that we have a better year than the one previous,” Brenna said. “We are a small stable, but we race year-round. I always hope we can get 100 wins in a year. You aim to have a better year. He reached 1,900 career wins in 2025, so I am hoping this year he can reach 2,000. You set those goals for your stable, and hope that you can get there.”
