Grove City, OH – Last December, Allen Miller did something a little out of character.
“A lot of times, I don’t buy 2-year-olds that didn’t race because I don’t know their backstory,” said Miller, of Millersburg, Ohio. “But with this one, I actually knew the backstory and decided to give him a chance.”
The horse he is referring to is 3-year-old In Range gelded trotter Deer In Range. Consigned by breeder Aaron Yoder at Miller’s farm, the horse was deemed too small to race last year.
“They broke him and jogged him for a couple weeks and then turned him out for the year,” Miller said.
However, as Deer In Range was being prepped to race as a 3-year-old, Miller liked what he saw. When he discovered the horse was being sold at the North American Standardbred Mixed Sale in Mount Hope, he intended to buy him.
“He just had a really nice way of going and was a very calm-natured horse with a good attitude. That caught my attention, and then I sat behind him and really liked him,” Miller said. “That’s when I decided to buy him, and it turned out to be a good buy.”
That “good buy” has done nothing but win this year, going 4-for-4 in overnight races at Northfield Park Racino with a career-best mark of 1:58.2. Miller said Deer In Range has improved every start, and he credits driver Chris Lems in aiding the horse’s development.
“I told Lems that I just wanted to teach him how to be a good racehorse, and he has done a really good job teaching him how to race and getting him to the winner’s circle,” he said. “The last race is when he really figured it out — he knows what he’s supposed to do now.”
Next up for Deer In Range is the first leg of the Buckeye Stallion Series on Saturday (May 9) at Eldorado Scioto Downs. The 16-race card includes five $20,000 divisions of sophomore male trotters and six $20,000 divisions of sophomore male pacers. Despite drawing the far outside post position, Deer In Range is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the fifth division of male trotters. For his part, Miller isn’t counting him out.
“The nine-hole can be brutal, but we’ll have to wait and see,” he said. “He’s very versatile — he’s been raced on the front, and he likes chasing down horses. Hopefully he’ll be on his ‘A’ game.”
Jackie Jann, driven by trainer Wilbur Yoder, is the 9-2 second choice and will leave from post 2.
Sophomore Male Trotters
First Division: Time Has Come (Tyler Smith) is the 5-2 morning-line favorite and will leave from post 6 alongside 3-1 second choice Mister Moolah (Chris Page) in post 7. Trained by Miles Wollam, Time Has Come has one win and one second in two seasonal starts.
Second Division: Lane Holding Court (Jeff Nisonger) is the 2-1 morning-line favorite and will leave from post 6 next to 3-1 second choice Royal Enterprise (Page) in post 7. A Mark Winters trainee, Lane Holding Court has one win in three seasonal starts.
Third Division: Ready Made (David Miller), the 3-1 morning-line favorite, will leave from post 5 in his seasonal debut. The Dustin Arledge trainee hit the board in five of seven starts with two wins as a freshman. Ready For Sunshine (Luke Hanners) is the 7-2 second choice and will leave from post 8.
Fourth Division: Uncle Danny (Brett Miller) will leave from post 2 and is the 5-2 morning-line favorite. The Jason McGinnis trainee has hit the board once in four seasonal starts, finishing third. The 4-1 second choice, Bitcoin King (Austin Hanners), will leave from post 5.
Sophomore Colt Pacers
First Division: Global (David Miller) is the 8-5 morning-line favorite and will leave from the far outside next to 9-2 second choice Odds On Ray (Page) in post 8. Trained by Brian Brown, Global has hit the board in four of five seasonal starts with three wins and $25,790 in earnings.
Second Division: The Ebony Dragon (Luke Hanners) is the 3-1 morning-line favorite ahead of 4-1 second choice Maserati Marv (David Miller). They will leave from posts 5 and 7, respectively. The Ebony Dragon is trained by Tyler Bates and has one win in six seasonal starts.
Third Division: Seven Seas (Cameron McCown), the 2-1 morning-line favorite, has two wins in three starts this season. He is trained by Brown and will leave from post 6. Touchedbythesea (Page) and Stoke The Fire (Lems) are co-second choice at 5-1.
Fourth Division: Sweat It Out (Trevor Smith) is the 2-1 morning-line favorite. The AJ Carlo trainee has hit the board in all four seasonal starts with three wins and $23,750 in earnings. He will leave from post 8 alongside 9-2 second choice Odds On Sugar (Page) on the far outside.
Fifth Division: Starblazer (David Miller) makes his seasonal debut as the 8-5 morning-line favorite. The Virgil Morgan Jr. trainee had two wins in four starts as a freshman and will leave from post 2. Fire The Prez (Lems) opened as the 3-1 second choice and will leave from post 5.
Sixth Division: Sin City Seaside (David Miller) will leave from post 6 as the 2-1 morning-line favorite. Trained by Brown, he has hit the board in four of five seasonal starts with one win. Ninetynineproblems (Mike Wilder) is the 5-2 second choice and will leave from post 2.
Saturday’s card also includes five $15,000 divisions of the Buckeye Claiming Series for sophomore male pacers and trotters. First-race post time is 5:25 p.m. (EDT). Columbus native and Hall of Famer David Miller, the sport’s all-time leader in career earnings with over $300 million, will sign autographs next to the program stand beginning at 4:30 p.m.