by Rich Fisher, USTA Web Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Rich Fisher

Trenton, NJ — Driver Marcus Miller has one of the most familiar surnames in harness racing as the son of trainer Erv Miller and nephew of driver Andy Miller.

The 23-year-old Marcus is doing the family name proud. After racing three years on the Illinois fair circuit, he is in his fifth year of driving full time. He has 1,785 career wins and, despite not being thrilled with his 2012 campaign, he had 436 wins and earned a career-best $3.14 million. He was second in wins and first in earnings at Chicago’s Balmoral Park and second in both wins at money and Maywood.

Miller broke in with 242 wins and $1.72 million in earnings in 2009, had 393 wins and $2.32 million in purses in 2010 and had his best year in 2011 when his 501 wins placed him eighth nationally. He earned $3 million that year.

Balmoral Park photo

Marcus Miller has 1,785 wins in his career.

His career is now in the process of making a major change, as Marcus has relocated from Chicago to Northeast Pennsylvania, where his father bases his stable. Miller began racing at the Meadowlands, Freehold, Harrah’s Philadelphia and Pocono Downs in February. After enjoying some success, he has decided to become a full-time East Coast driver.

Miller was kind enough to share his thoughts on making the big move, along with the impact his father has had and several other aspects of the harness racing business.

USTA: So you’re an East Coast guy now. Was it tough to make the decision to break away from Chicago considering the success you had there? Or was it a no-brainer because of the East Coast reputation and your dad being here?
MM: It was definitely tough. It was kind of like Chicago had become a little bit like my safety area, I could count on drives all the time. Jumping out here was more or less a risk.

USTA: What finally made you make the decision?
MM: Instead of driving at Maywood through the winter, I started driving Thursday and Friday out here (at Pocono) and at the Meadowlands. And after being here, the way everything was run, so professional, and I had some winners, I went back and was like ‘Why am I going back?’ After a month I said I’ve got to try it out here.

USTA: What was the reaction in Chicago when you left?
MM: It was hit or miss. A lot of the trainers were very supportive. They understood why, and they were sad to see me go. (Laughing) I’m sure the drivers don’t miss me much. I have a lot of friends back there but hopefully I’ll go back and drive a little in some of the stakes races this summer.

USTA: Did your dad being in Pennsylvania factor in the move?
MM: Without a doubt. I couldn’t do it without him. He’s gotten my name on sheets, got a lot of live horses for me to drive. I’ve won some races for some other guys but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him. And it’s been a long time since I’ve lived in the same state that my family is in, so it will be nice to spend some time around them.

USTA: Now that you’ve made the move, what are your upcoming plans for the season? Any tracks that will be your main tracks?
MM: I think the plan right now is to try to make Pocono my home track. Dad’s got a lot of (Pennsylvania)-breds and a lot of young horses. It seems like a spot I can drive in quite a few races. During the weekends we started having a lot of luck. So I’d like that to be my home base and see where that goes. I would love to drive out at the Meadowlands more. Right now I’m driving on Friday nights but it’s just so tough there.

USTA: Growing up in the Midwest, what was it like for you, taking that first trip to the Meadowlands as either a spectator or driver? Was it like a baseball kid seeing Yankee Stadium for the first time?
MM: Oh most definitely. I went to the Hambletonian the year Chip Chip Hooray won (in 2002). I was young; I wasn’t driving. But just being at the Meadowlands was amazing. It’s where everything big in harness racing has happened.

To go there now and drive against John Campbell and all those guys I looked up to, it’s pretty surreal. It took me a while to work up to the part where they’re just humans.

USTA: What was your first race like as a driver? Were you just soaking it all in?
MM: Yeah without a doubt. The first night was great just being in the drivers’ room, it’s well lit with the colors. Anybody who’s anybody’s got their colors hanging in there, and at the end were mine. I was, like you said, just soaking it all in. It was a matter of getting over the fact you are where you are, and just getting down to some racing.

I’ve won several races there. Not a ton, but I’ve gotten my fair share. I’m happy with the way I started out.

USTA: What was your first win there like?
MM: I sat in the two hole behind Andy (Miller), and halfway down the stretch caught up and beat him. It was pretty cool beating him at the Meadowlands, it was awesome. It’s cool to drive against Andy.

USTA: What were some of your highlights last season?
MM: To be honest I wasn’t thrilled the way last year went. In 2011 in Chicago I was the leading driver at Maywood and Balmoral and seemed like I could do no wrong.

Last year things didn’t pan out. I shouldn’t say I was disappointed, it just wasn’t as strong as I thought it would be. I drove a nice trotter called Riccolo who won (eight) straight before they sold him to a Swedish connection. I had Mystical Victress; she’s been dominating Illinois for three years now and just crushed the division again.

USTA: They say you learn more from failures than successes. You didn’t really fail last year, but since you weren’t happy with it, what sort of things did you learn last year?
MM: It was just tough. It was frustrating. I’m not really sure. The year before I was getting three or four or five wins a night. Last year I was still winning plenty of races but at the same time I didn’t have the same amount. It took me a while to figure out what I was doing wrong.

Now that I’ve moved out here, I can go back and look at last year and see what I was doing wrong. I look at the guys who drive out here, and what they’re doing, and how much different it was from what I did last year. I think I’ve grown personally as a driver more in the last month than I did the last few years in Chicago.

USTA: So you almost needed to make the move to better yourself?
MM: It was kind of a stalemate in Chicago. Out there it’s the same horses and the same races over and over. Out here it’s a lot more variables coming into play. There are a lot more good drivers and good horses and you’ve got to be on top of your game out here.

USTA: So, what were you doing wrong last year?
MM: I think I just kind of got stuck in a rut where I was just not…I don’t even know how to say it. I was kind of stuck in a spot where I wasn’t making the right move. I was just kind of stuck in a rut.

USTA: I don’t know if you can answer this in one year, let alone one interview, but talk about the impact and influence your dad has had on your career.
MM: I mean, basically, everything without a doubt. He’s taught me everything I know. He’s been obviously a huge supporter in getting me drives. All my live horses, up until the last two years were all his. He started me off in county fairs. Not just him but his owners have been very supportive. They taught me along the way. But I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for him.

I’m not going to tell you when I started I was superstar right away. It was rough, he was very hard on me at first, but it paid off. Now we have a great working relationship. I hardly have to tell him how a race went, he knows what I was thinking. We work together very well. Without him I would not have been able to do this.

USTA: Did he push you into the business or let you find your own way?
MM: I wouldn’t say he pushed me at all. Before I was 12 I wasn’t very interested in the horses. Then I jogged a horse with him and kind of caught the bug from there. I did that in Florida, then I came back to Illinois, I had to go back to school.

I went back to the barn, cleaned stalls that summer and worked my way up from there. I groomed for a summer, I started training. He never pushed me but I liked it enough that he didn’t have to. He was like ‘You might as well drive some county fairs.’ I did well and from there it kind of grew and grew. You know how it is. Once you get hooked, you’re hooked and you can’t get out of it.

USTA: How tough was your dad on you?
MM: It felt like he was really hard on me. He expected a lot from me, which I understand. He was very hard on me. Some of those mornings in the barn, when I was in high school, we were training between 100 and 140 horses in Springfield. We were on and off the track all morning.

He was very hard on me. At the time, he just expected a lot. And I would deal with it. I wanted to be a driver, so I took it and learned from it. I always had to listen to what he said and how he said it. He was never mean, just tough.

In the afternoons when he would want to go golfing, I would usually go to the lake. (Laughing) I didn’t want to learn to be a golfer enough to put up with it there, too.

USTA: How about the influence Andy has had on you?
MM: He’s had a little bit. I loved watching him drive, especially when he was back in Chicago and watching him out there. But just until last month we had never been in the same place at the same time. He moved out to the East Coast close to 10 years ago so I was mostly just watching him.

USTA: Some guys might get comfortable with success and just want to stick around where they’ve been successful. The fact you’re leaving a comfort zone to come East, I guess proves you’ve got some big goals. What are your goals for this year, and maybe long range goals?
MM: Yeah, I think for sure. I always looked at Chicago, in the state it’s in now, as a stepping off point. It’s a great place to learn how to drive, with the mile and half-mile tracks. My goal was never to be there exclusively. I always had plans. I always want to be the kind of guy who gets to drive the Grand Circuit, drive those kinds of horses. If that’s possible I’ll see, but that’s definitely what I’d like to do.

USTA: Might training be in your future?
MM: I like to go to the barn and help. If I don’t have to, I don’t know if I’d want a big stable all my own. But I do like to go to the barn, especially if my dad is around. But I don’t want a whole big stable.

USTA: So I hear you’re a big Twitter guy.
MM: Yeah, I try to be. I think the more information you get out to people the better. There is never too much information. I’ve been doing it for about a year.

USTA: How many followers?
MM: Around 600.

USTA: Let’s try and get you some more. What’s your twitter feed?
MM: @mmillerdriver

USTA: Do you follow many people?
MM: I follow industry people. I’m all harness racing, and I follow a few comedians. I think I follow like 98 people, and it’s mostly all harness racing.

I just look for the day…harness racing to me is just so exciting. The way it’s presented right now, there’s still so much room to grow. People don’t even realize what’s going on. Your average every day person has never seen it or heard of it.

There’s so much room to grow, if we transform it into a sport instead of a place to gamble, we would be as popular as every other sport. I would love to see that happen in my lifetime. I think if we all work together, that it’s possible.

USTA: Well said Marcus. Thank you for your time and good luck in the East!
MM: Call me any time!