As his time at The Meadowlands draws to a close, David Miller says, ‘I’m coming home’
The Buckeye expects to return to Ohio before the end of the year.
by Debbie Little
Who says you can’t go home? Not driver David Miller, who is counting the weeks until he’s back in his native Ohio.
“Well, I committed to the season [at The Meadowlands], and I’ve still got a few horses, not many, but I’ve got a few horses,” said Miller, who thinks the Fall Final Four / FanDuel Championships will be his last night racing regularly in the Garden State.
“My house [in Ohio], I would say it’s two-thirds of the way done, and they keep telling me it’ll be where I can move into it like late-November. And I was like, ‘You know, that’ll work out good.’ I mean, the stakes are usually over late November.
“I’ve been talking about going home for the last five years. Two years ago, I bought land, and I had an idea of what I wanted. I wanted a barn-dominium with the barn connected to the house, but I ended up buying in a cul-de-sac, and there were stipulations that I didn’t know. So, actually, I’m just building a house. It’s a barn-dominium looking house, but there are no stalls attached to it.”
As a leading driver in the Buckeye State in the early ’90s, Miller received the U.S. Harness Writers Association’s Rising Star Award in 1993, the same year he got his first drive at The Meadowlands in a division of the Niatross with Falcons Future. Even though he won that first Big M start, it wasn’t until 1999 when he decided to make the move to New Jersey, where he has been a top performer ever since.
According to Miller, back then it was doable to race in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and on the Grand Circuit.
“Now you throw Kentucky in there for sire stakes, they start in April or May or March or something like that,” he said. “I remember Kentucky, I’d be there 10 days, now I’m there for nine months, and it’s just too much. That’s why as soon as the stakes are over, you see a lot of guys take off because it’s a demanding schedule. And, believe it or not, we all get tired of it, you get tired physically and mentally.”
At 60, Miller said he is looking for less of a grind and more family time.
“Like I said, I’m not planning on doing [all the traveling] anymore after the end of this year,” Miller said. “I’ve got one more trip to go to Canada [for the Breeders Crown], and that’s it.
“Going to Ohio, I basically would just have three tracks to race at, and they’re all within range, you know, I wouldn’t be having to fly somewhere to drive, or drive six hours to drive a horse. I mean, it would just be a lot easier on me. I would just concentrate on Scioto Downs, Miami Valley, and Dayton. Those tracks are closest to me.
“I talked to my cousin, Brett, because he left [The Meadowlands] and went home and he does that circuit. I think each track races like four days a week, and they’re never overlapping; those three tracks never overlap… It’s going to be a much easier schedule, and, like you said, I have options [like Northfield, The Red Mile or even Hoosier].
“But it’s not what I’m planning on doing. I’m planning on going there and just basically having a good time, having fun, you know. I’ll be with my family; I’ll get to see them heaps more. I’ve got cousins, I’ve got uncles, my sister lives there, and my daughter, and I’m just ready to slow down, not quit, to slow down.”
Thanks to favorable legislation, Ohio racing is in a great condition financially compared to when Miller was last a resident.
“I’m very lucky that I’m able to go home to such a good situation,” he said.
Although not right around the corner, Northfield Park would be less than a three-hour drive, as would Lexington’s lucrative Red Mile.
“Oh, from my new place [to The Red Mile], it would be two hours, which is like going to Pocono [now],” he said. “I would be able to do that, but I think it’s kind of like out of sight, out of mind. I mean, my one buddy lives there, Carter Pinske, and I know when he’ll be in a pinch, he’ll be wanting me to come there. But, if I turn a few people down, I’m sure, eventually, they’ll just quit calling.
“I would race [in Ohio], and when I don’t get drives anymore, which eventually it comes to that, I’ll go buy a horse, and I’ll train him, and then I’ll race him. I mean, I like to fish, I don’t hunt, I don’t golf, but I love being around horses. I’m pretty simple, you know.”
As Miller looks to continue to race, without all the traveling wear and tear, he’s closing in on John Campbell’s all-time earnings mark of $299,892,141.
Miller, who currently sits at $295,967,128, said he is aware that he could pass Campbell sometime this year or next, but he doesn’t think much about it.
“It’s like wins,” he said. “I’ve got over 14,000 wins, and I’m not going to the track every day and counting down every win I have and how close I’m getting to 15,000.
“When I’m within range [of Campbell], I’m sure it’ll be brought up a lot more. And, you know what, I’m very proud of that. I grew up being a huge, huge John Campbell fan, and it’s a milestone that I would be very proud of. I talk to John now and again still, and he always tells me, ‘Keep winning.’ So, he’s not rooting against me or anything. He’s a good friend of mine now. I mean, we raced with each other for 15-plus years and he’s a guy that I idolized all my life.”
For a boy who was born with Asthma and would sneeze and wheeze every time he stepped foot in a barn or got near a horse, Miller has come pretty far.
“When I was a kid, I was allergic to horses, hay, dirt, dust, dogs, and cats, you know, everything that I liked I was allergic to,” he said. “It was a struggle, especially when I was really young… but as I got older, they said, it’ll go away. I don’t take any allergy shots or any allergy medicines, but I still take my Advair [Asthma medication], and I have an inhaler in every driving bag that I have.
“That’s how much I love [horses]. I love being around them. That’s what I love. I’ve just been drawn to them ever since I can remember.”
Although he won’t be getting his barn-dominium, he will have some space for his beloved horses.
“So, I’m going to have to build a barn now, maybe in another year or two. It depends on how busy I am; like right now I would have no time for a horse.
“Honestly, I’m kind of glad I wasn’t able to put a barn attached to it. I’ve got six acres and I’m only allowed two horses. That was another stipulation. I’m allowed to have horses there, but only two, so I won’t have all of my daughter’s horses there… That’s why I’m not even really in a big hurry when I get there to start building the barn, I’m just going to kind of wait and see, because I have a feeling the first horse there would be one of hers.”
The timing for Miller’s move could be viewed as curious since the man in purple, who tied with Luc Ouellette for his first Big M driver title in 2003, just won his second last year.
“I was talking to Yannick [Gingras], a couple of weeks ago, about getting my retirement, and he goes, ‘Well, you can’t touch it for five years, you know?’ and I was like, ‘Dude, I’ll be 61 this year,’ and he goes, ‘I forgot you’re that old,’” Miller said with a laugh.
“People ask me all the time, ‘You’re never coming back to The Meadowlands to drive?’ And I’m like, ‘No. No.’ They were like, ‘What if you got a good horse?’ And I was like, ‘You know, what? He better be 1-9 if I show up there. I’m not going to show up for a horse that’s 15-1.’ I feel like I had my time, I had my chances, and I’m satisfied with it.”
When asked if he’d consider a little traveling if trainer Ron Burke gave him a nice Ohio-bred to drive in some stakes at The Meadowlands, Miller said, “I’m not saying it’s out of the question. Like I said, he better be 1-9 when I show up. When I post parade him, he better be the favorite, that would be the only way. That’s how I went to the North America Cup the first time. It was an Ohio-bred. And, I’m not saying it couldn’t happen or I wouldn’t do it, but it’s not on my bucket list to keep trying to do stuff, I’m satisfied.
The only thing I’m sad about really is Elista Hanover, Ken Hanover, you know, horses that I’m going to give up, because I’m sure them two will race one more year anyways.
“I’ll give you an example. So, Hambo Day, I finished second in the [New Jersey] Sire Stakes final with a 2-year-old trotting filly [Sugar Packet for Blake McIntosh]. And he said, ‘She’s got the Peaceful Way in two weeks in Canada.’ And I was like, ‘I’m not going, Blake, I’m not going to go.’ He says, ‘Okay, no problem.’ And she won the Peaceful Way, and [from home] I watched her do it, and I was like, good for Blake. I was like, good for them. There was not one bit of remorse. So, if ‘Elista’ goes out and wins the International Trot [next year] or goes and wins the Elitlopp, I’ll be rooting for her. I mean, that’s how much I’m ready to go home.”
