Trenton, NJ – Anthony Miller’s first career drives were memorable as much for the weather as for the fact his career was officially underway.
“We were in the rain at Converse,” the 24-year-old northern Indiana product said. “It was a complete downpour; it was a crazy day. I was right in the middle of the pack, too. They put me right to work.
“But it was a lot of fun. I kind of got the feel the first week, and for the second week most of the guys I drove for put me on decent horses and it’s just worked out.”
In that first week, Miller hit the board for the first time driving Molly’s Luck to third place.
Things improved markedly in week two, when he had a win, place and show. His first career victory came in his seventh career race, on June 11 at Converse with Fake Fifty, a 3-year-old male trotter owned by Karl Miller (no relation) and trained by Robert Wyman. Fake Fifty won by three lengths in 2:02.
“He had the three-hole,” Miller recalled. “I just kind of trotted out of there and we ended up on the front; just cut the mile. We got a good breather (in the second quarter), and I had plenty of horse at the end. He did it all by himself. I just sat there and held the lines.
“He opened up at the end. (Another horse) pulled up two-wide going down the backstretch. I pulled the plugs and that’s all I had to do. He trotted with him, then opened up on him in the straightaway. I couldn’t ask for much more.”
After he crossed the finish line, Miller was greeted by many familiar faces.
“It was kind of special,” he said. “This was a family thing for us. My little sister (Joey) held the horse in the winner’s circle and my wife (Tess), who’s pregnant with a baby girl, was there. That went OK. It didn’t really hit me until I saw my dad (Devon) when I got off the track. That’s when I got a little emotional. I had to leave the glasses on for a little bit.”
Miller has spent a lifetime shoeing horses with Devon, who has taught his son everything he knows about the racing business. Joey drives ponies – which Anthony did from age 11 to 22 – and she actually got him to drive one of hers two weeks ago when she had two entered in a race.
Little brother Benny used to drive ponies but now trains horses at Elite Nutrition Therapy Barn. Benny “is one of my biggest supporters but will always tell me where he’s better,” Miller said with a laugh. His mom, Susie, puts herself in charge of washing his racing gear and “making sure I’m always ready.”
And then there is Tess, who isn’t from a racing family but has become enamored with her husband’s races. Maybe a little too much at times.
“She’s my number one supporter,” Miller said. “She’ll sit there after my horse is sitting in eighth or ninth and still be videotaping me. I said, ‘Man you gotta quit doing that.’ I’m dead last. It’s not going good, and in my head I’m upset at whatever just happened. I look over and she’s still videotaping. I said, ‘Now you gotta quit doing that.’
“But she looks at me and said, ‘It doesn’t matter, I’m still gonna do it, just in case.’ She loves coming to the races. I’m really excited for my little girl (due in September) and her to come.”
Miller’s career seemed to be with ponies in the early stages. His dad started driving Standardbreds when Anthony was 15. Devon eventually sent his horses elsewhere and they got into shoeing.
Up to that point Miller said, “I was driving ponies the entire time, I drove an insane amount.”
He took a break at age 22 and had never really thought of getting in a sulky professionally until encouraged by his friend Jordan Ross to give it a shot.
“He’s worked with me, we lost a bunch of weight and got our bodies back in shape,” Miller said. “And now Jordan is top five at Hoosier Park. He’s on fire now. He had two grand slams in a row (last week).”
Ross and Larry Poindexter own Molly’s Luck, a horse trained by Poindexter that Miller drove to victory July 2 at Shelbyville. Ten days later at Kendallville, he guided Ponda Swan – also trained by Wyman and owned by Karl Miller – to a first.
Entering Monday, Miller had hit the board in 12 of 25 starts, with his horses earning $13,566 in purses.
“Karl Miller has done me very well,” Anthony said. “He was the first one to give me a shot. A couple guys started putting me up. Ben Schwartz has been putting me on a decent amount of qualifiers down at Hoosier. He’s helping me get my ‘P’ license so I can race down there.”
Until he gets himself established, Miller knows that every drive counts.
“For me to make it, people are gonna have to give me a shot,” he said. “This is very dependent on other people. I understand how hard it is to get people to put you up. And then you have to perform. If I have a bad drive it upsets me because I know how hard it is to come back from a bad drive.
“This business is very opinionated. If they see you drive bad once they’ll write you off and always say you’re a bad driver. A bad drive costs you a lot.
“That’s the biggest thing now, try to minimize the bad drives and when I do pick up drives try to do the best I can; and just care about people’s horses. That’s the number one thing. And then see where it takes us. We need a shot to be able to do something like that and if that’s in the books for me that’s what we’re gonna do.”
Miller is currently racing fairs three times a week. He is still shoeing with Devon, and the two make overnight trips to Hoosier on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Anthony spent all his free time at Hoosier from the ages of 15 and 19. He noted that in his area, the kids on the pony circuit watched races on YouTube and idolized the harness drivers.
But they pale in comparison to his No. 1 hero.
“My dad is the mind behind training the horses, teaching me how to drive horses,” Miller said. “Always being with him, that’s where it comes from. He loves this probably more than I do. I’m a die-hard. He just loves it that much more. We have two we’re training at home now. I’m glad he’s doing it; he’s having a blast.
“One night we were third at Hoosier. We were going for $10,000; you would have thought we were going for $100,000. His hands were shaking. It’s really a family thing. We want to make money but we’re just having fun together.”
Devon is one of Miller’s two major influences.
“God and dad, that’s what brought us to the point where we are now,” he said. “We live and die by the cross. (Faith) is the number one thing in our family’s lives.”
Miller is keeping the faith that he can continue to expand his career, get his P license and start driving bigger tracks. He makes it known that is his goal.
That being said, he is doing more in the sport than he ever imagined. His appreciation is boundless.
“It was always kind of a dream,” Miller said. “It looked like it was too far to ever do it. Right now, I’ve won at a couple county fair tracks and I’m living the dream and having fun doing it. I’m living a top-notch dream of privilege.
“I never thought this would be possible, to go drive horses for a living. This is unbelievable. For me to even win a fair race has taken my faith to the next level. This is already something I dreamed about doing but never had expectations of actually doing.”
That does not mean, however, that he’s satisfied.
“I’m happy with what I’ve done but there’s more to come,” Miller said. “The dream is still open. I’m gonna keep grinding and doing what I’m doing, and if it takes us that far, we want to keep going that way. We’ve got the family by our side, and we can’t ask for much more. We’re very blessed.”