by John Pawlak, the U.S. Trotting Association

Columbus, OH — He’s the hottest horse in North America, and now David and John Prushnok and William Gregg’s Lucky Jim can add another title of U.S. Trotting Association Horse of the Month to his growing list of accomplishments, after having been named the winner of the award for the month of May, to go along with his title in March.

USTA/Ken Weingartner photo

Trainer Julie Miller and Lucky Jim, the two-time USTA Horse of the Month.

The gelded son of S J’s Photo and the Sierra Kosmos mare Hawaiian Sierra has yet to taste defeat in 12 trips to the post this year, and during the month just ended added two rich titles to his past performances.

He began the month by winning a $40,000 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial elimination and the $200,000 Cutler Memorial final at The Meadowlands, and followed that with wins in a $40,000 Maxie Lee Memorial elimination and then the $250,000 Maxie Lee Memorial final at Harrah’s Chester.

Lucky Jim, who is trained by Julie Miller and is driven by her husband, Andy, leads all trotters in North America with $394,325 won this year, and he is also the fastest trotter on the continent by virtue of a world record equaling 1:51.3 victory this past March.

“When we started training him, I never expected this to happen,” Julie Miller said in a recent interview. “You always hope for a horse like him and I’m just grateful it’s happening to me and Andy.

“He definitely had to prove himself to a lot of people,” she continued. “He’s proved himself to me, and how I feel about him matters more than what anybody else says about him. He’s matured from (ages) three to four and come into his own. Andy always says there’s more in the tank. Words can’t describe how happy I am with him.”