Hightstown, NJ – Zach Miller doesn’t often travel out of state for stakes races, but when the opportunity came to send Premier Bluebird to the inaugural Oak Grove Trotting Derby in Kentucky, the Indiana-based trainer decided to take advantage of it.
Premier Bluebird was one of five horses entered in the Oak Grove Trotting Derby, for 3-year-old trotters, from the event’s “Win and You’re In” series of 2-year-old races, which provided an automatic berth into the eliminations with pre-entry and starting fees covered by the race sponsors. Premier Bluebird’s victory in last year’s Indiana Sire Stakes championship qualified him for the automatic berth.
Three eliminations for the Oak Grove Trotting Derby, as well as three for the filly companion Oak Grove Trotting Oaks, are Monday at Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel. The finals, going for purses of $500,000 and $300,000, respectively, are May 16.
“Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have gone if he wasn’t eligible,” Miller said. “It’s not because I didn’t think he fit, but we’ve got a decent size stable at home and it’s hard to be away too much, so I don’t generally stake out of state too often. But since he was already eligible, we decided that as long as he trained back down good, we’d give it a shot.
“He’s done what we’ve asked training down. It looks like we drew good for the eliminations, we just have to hope for some luck and see if we can get in (to the final).”
Premier Bluebird and driver Kyle Wilfong will leave from post one in the first of Monday’s three $50,000 Trotting Derby elims. The colt is the 4-1 second choice on the morning line. Breeders Crown champion Spencer Hanover, another automatic qualifier, is the 3-5 morning-line favorite, with Jason Bartlett driving for trainer Marcus Melander. The top three finishers from each elimination will advance to the final.
Both Premier Bluebird and Spencer Hanover will be making their season debuts. Last year, Premier Bluebird – purchased by Miller and his wife, Dessa, for $4,500 at the 2024 Hoosier Classic Yearling Sale – hit the board in nine of 13 races, winning six and earning $182,455.
“I thought he was talented training down, but you never know how it is until they get in the stretch and have to beat somebody,” Miller said. “Once he started racing, he started off pretty well (with three wins and two seconds in his first five races). He had a couple hiccups here and there, typical 2-year-old trotter baby stuff, but he matured quite a bit as the year went on. He really came around good at the end.”
As for buying the colt inexpensively, Miller said, “It was a bit of luck involved.”
Premier Bluebird, a son of stallion Pilot Discretion and the first foal out of the mare Winery Hanover, sold near the end of the sale, with only four yearlings following him. His third dam, Met’s Rival, is the grandam of millionaire Met’s Hall (who was second in the 2018 Hambletonian and a Breeders Crown) and his fourth dam, Yankee Blondie, produced Hall of Famer Muscle Hill. The family also includes Hall of Famer Gimpanzee.
“My wife and I had been looking for a trotter for ourselves and hadn’t found one that we liked that we could afford,” Miller said. “She was in line checking out for the horses we had bought that day, and she texted me that maybe I should look at (Premier Bluebird) because I had his video marked highly. I looked at him maybe eight or 10 horses before he sold. He was a nice-looking horse. He wasn’t the biggest thing ever, but he was really long barreled and had a good head on him. He didn’t stand the best, but I’ve had trotters that stood like that before and had luck with them, so it didn’t bother me much.
“I’m sure he would have brought a little bit more had it been earlier in the sale. I think he just got overlooked a little bit. He’s out of a quality mare; it’s not like the breeding isn’t there. But I’m not complaining.”
The Millers added Ted Comerford and Marvin Schwartz to Premier Bluebird’s ownership group this past summer. Premier Bluebird, aside from the Oak Grove Trotting Derby, will spend the remainder of his sophomore campaign in Indiana, competing in stakes races offered at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.
“You never know until you actually go (race), but he seems to be coming back good,” Miller said. “He’s got a great attitude. In the barn, he’s very playful, very energetic. But when he’s on the track, he’s all business. He doesn’t mess around, do other things. He likes racing.”
For more about the Oak Grove Trotting Derby and Trotting Oaks eliminations, click here. Racing begins at 1:10 p.m. (CDT) at Oak Grove. Free TrackMaster past performances are available at the track’s website here. For Monday’s card, click here.