Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Millers on top at The Big M

May 7, 2007

It probably surprises few harness racing observers to find the name Miller among the leading trainers at the Meadowlands Racetrack. The fact it is Julie, not Ervin, might cause those fans to take a second look.

Julie Miller, the wife of driver Andy Miller, entered this week ranked fourth in the trainer standings at the Big M with 31 wins, just 11 victories out of the top spot and three from third; Ervin Miller, her brother-in-law and the 2005 Trainer of the Year, was fifth in the standings with 30 victories. Julie Miller’s horses were winning at a 28-percent clip, which led all trainers with more than 100 starts.

“It’s great,” Julie Miller said. “I love the racing out here and I’ve gotten the chance to train some nice horses, and they’re performing well. You can’t be happier than that. Being from the Midwest it’s a big social change coming out here, but you have to go where the money is and the racing here is phenomenal. I’m glad we made the move.”

Miller, 34, grew up in Iowa, where her family raced on the county fair circuit. Her goal, as stated in her high school yearbook, was to race horses in Illinois, and in 1993 she won her first race at Quad City Downs. After graduating from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville in 1995 and getting married, she became more involved in training. She won a career-best 60 races in 1998, although that mark is certain to fall this year. The Millers moved to New Jersey in August, leaving behind Chicago where Andy Miller earned many of his 5,400 lifetime wins.

“My favorite thing has been seeing Andy develop as a driver; I’m really proud of him,” Miller said. “I’m glad people see he has the ability to drive a good horse and put them in a position to win. I’ve been very lucky. This leap has been unexpected and very exciting. My goal is to just keep doing what we’re doing. Of course, everyone wants to win a Breeders Crown or the Hambletonian; if that would happen to me, it’s going to happen. But I just want to do my best week in and week out.”

One of the keys to Miller’s success has been putting her horses in the best possible spots to thrive.

“I think Andy really values my opinion and I try to classify the horses and have them ready to be in that particular race,” said Miller, who has won 373 career races and $2.4 million in purses. “I want to send my horses out blinking; I want to at least hit the board, if not win.”

Miller’s most active years were 1997 to 1999 before she scaled back her training to focus on family. The Millers have two children, T.J., who is 9, and Olivia, who is 7.

“A family that works together, stays together,” Miller said. “When the kids were small, we pretty much shut it down because we wanted to be there for them. Now that they’re in school fulltime, we decided to blossom the stable out; we race 15 to 20 horses. Now that the kids are older, they understand and they love the horses.

“Andy’s a great father, so I’m lucky in that respect. And I have a lot of respect for Andy and I value his opinions when he races a horse for me. Sometimes I’ll take his opinion, and sometimes I don’t, but I definitely try to incorporate it into my training and rigging and conditioning of my horses.”

Husband and wife admitted working together can be difficult occasionally, but it was beneficial that both understood the hours and demands of the sport.

“I think we do a pretty good job managing it all together,” Andy Miller said. “She does great training the horses and she knows a lot about the business; that’s great for a relationship to have someone who knows about the business. She knows how important driving is to me. She takes care of the stable and I help her where I can. It works out pretty good. We get along pretty good; there’s a lot of give and take. This year has been very good; we’ve been very fortunate.”