Peter Miller is a leading trainer in American Thoroughbred horse racing. His most notable victories came in the 2017 and 2018 Breeders' Cup events, while he also holds training titles at Del Mar Racetrack.
Miller has trained many racehorses throughout his career, with his most notable runners including Stormy Liberal, Roy H, Comma to the Top and Reneesgotzip.
The trainer has a career record of over 1,250 wins, 1,000 seconds and 860 thirds from more than 6,650 starts. His total purse earnings sit at over $63,000,000.
Early career
Miller was drawn to horse racing from as early as eight-years-old, the age he first began going to the racetrack. He would spend his summer months at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club as his parents were the owners of Winning Ways Stables.
The eventual trainer first wanted to become a jockey, but this was short-lasting as his doctors said he would not keep the height and weight needed.
Miller was therefore forced to take another path and in the 1980s, he became a groom for Hall of Fame trainer Charlie Whittingham. Some of the horses with which he was involved include Palace Music and Greinton. The trainer eventually moved on to work for Mike Mitchell and Don Warren, also Thoroughbred horse trainers, until he eventually set up his own operation.
The trainer's first stable was small in size and only included claiming horses. His first victory took place when Dynashield scored a win on April 25, 1988.
It would be 18 years before Miller took his first graded stakes victory. In 2006, his trainee Fast Parade won the Nearctic Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto.
In 2007, Set Play secured Miller's first Grade 1 win after the runner won the Del Mar Debutante Stakes.
Competing at a higher level
In 2010, Miller's career started to reach the next level. His second Grade 1 winner came when Comma to the Top won that year's CashCall Futurity. The runner then went on to finish second in the Santa Anita Derby, but he dropped to a disappointing 19th in the 2011 Kentucky Derby.
Comma to the Top eventually became one of Miller's top horses after retiring with 14 victories and over $1.3million in earnings.
Miller's most notable moments came in the Breeders' Cup series of races. In 2017, he began to receive attention following his first victory in the series. He took the Turf Sprint on November 4 with runner Stormy Liberal and he followed that victory up with another just an hour later. His trainee, Roy H, crossed the wire first in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
Roy H later went on to win the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship and was named that year's American Champion Male Sprint Horse.
In the 2018 Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs, Stormy Liberal and Roy H did it again when they became the first two horses to repeat for the same trainer.
Roy H is a Kentucky-bred gelding from More Than Ready, owned by Rockingham Ranch and David A. Bernsen LLC. He retired with a career record of 10-5-2 from 23 starts and earnings of $3,139,765.
Stormy Liberal, another Kentucky-bred runner, is a gelding from Stormy Atlantic. Owned by the same group as Roy H, he retired with a career record of 12-10-4 from 37 outings and earnings of $2,212,580. His last race was an eighth-place finish in the 2019 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita.
On November 16, 2018, Miller took his 1,000th career victory when Haydens Havoc won a turf sprint at Del Mar.
In 2019, he won the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint again, this time with Belvoir Bay.
Major setback in 2017
Miller faced a major setback in 2017 during the Lilac Fire, which took place in San Diego County, California. At the time of the event, Miller was keeping many of his runners at the San Luis Rey Downs training center. He noticed smoke, but the fire was 20 miles away, leading him to believe there was no immediate danger.
Later on in the day, the fire's direction changed unexpectedly when trees near the training center ignited after being hit by burning embers. The fire then spread throughout the facility, while road closures prevented any trucks from transporting the horses out.
The grooms at the facility were forced to release 70 of Miller's horses, five of which died.
"We couldn't find a lot of the horses for two to three days and eventually tracked down Richard's Boy in a backyard farm 10 miles away, while Conquest Tsunami spent a month in the clinic due to severe burns," said Miller. "These horses are so resilient, and the support from the horseracing community worldwide was overwhelming."
Names like Conquest Enforcer went on to return racing in 2018, winning the Daytona Stakes in February.