All In: Anthony Miller pursues the catch-driving career he never planned

by James Platz

Catch driving horses in pari-mutuel competition was never an aspiration for Anthony Miller. Raised in northern Indiana, he raced for years on the trottingbred pony circuit, and when that chapter closed, he turned the page. Today, Miller is ranked 10th in the Harrah’s Hoosier Park driver standings in his first pari-mutuel season, and he feels incredibly blessed for the opportunity.

“This whole thing has been God-driven,” he said. “I was 258 pounds March 16, 2025. I had no thoughts of being a driver, no plans of being a driver. In two years, we’re here. I don’t know how it got here. I know it comes from all the people supporting me and from God.”

Miller steered his first pony in competition at the age of 10, winning with Think Fast at the Goshen Fairgrounds. He spent 11 seasons racing on the circuit as a pursuit that involved the entire family.

“I started racing with my dad, brothers, sisters, all of them; we all raced,” he said. “I drove against Kevin Lambright and Kiwon Waldron, who are both at Hoosier Park now. LeWayne Miller was a little bit before my time, but I drove against his brother, Dale, a lot.”

Once retiring from the pony circuit, Anthony went to work for his father, Devon, a blacksmith. He also trained and owned standardbreds. The most notable is the trotter Jusmakinyalook, a 20-time winner in her career, with a 1:51.2 mark taken at age 4. The Pinetucky mare, trained by Robert Taylor and owned by Anthony and Devon, banked $474,372 over five seasons of racing.

It was through Jusmakinyalook that Anthony made a connection with driver Jordan Ross, who would be the catalyst to his return to the sulky.

“He drove her throughout her career,” Anthony said. “That’s how I met him. We started talking more and then we started playing basketball. We have a lot of the same interests. And it led to this all happening, really.”

It was during a trip to the gym to play basketball that Ross floated the idea Anthony should obtain his fair license and drive on Indiana’s circuit. His reason: someday the two could tell their children they battled wheel-to-wheel racing at Indiana’s fairs. That was March 2025, and Anthony had work to do in order to be ready when the fair circuit kicked off the first week of June.

“I was a big boy; I went on a very strict diet,” Anthony said of his 2025 transformation. “I dropped like 40-some pounds before Converse the first week to make sure that I could get in the race bike. Then I lost the rest by the end of last year. This year, I’ve lost even more.”

He didn’t reach the winner’s circle in that first week of fair racing, but he broke his maiden the following week with a three-length win behind sophomore trotter Fake Fifty, trained by Robert Wyman for Karl Dean Miller’s Twoforone Stable.

“I got on some horses for Karl Miller and Robert Wyman and we started doing pretty good,” Anthony said. “I started driving a lot more.”

Throughout the summer and fall, he added nine more wins at the fairs, good for 10th in the 2025 standings.

If Anthony’s colors look familiar, it’s because they are modeled after those of Hall of Famer David Miller. His fandom goes back to the pony racing days, where he also donned purple colors.

“I grew up a big David Miller fan,” Anthony said. “I still am a diehard David Miller fan. The Purple Jesus. I was one of the first ones to wear purple on the pony tracks, if not one of the first to make it my main color. You can’t have colors that are the same, so I added some diamonds in there.”

Anthony earned his pari-mutuel license in February 2026, making his debut that month with Gold Paige, a trotter owned by the family. Listed as driver and trainer, he piloted Gold Paige to a fifth-place finish. April was a big month for the aspiring driver, as he collected his first pari-mutuel win aboard the Wyman-trained Cs Flying Co-Pilot on April 10. Five days later he picked up his second win, this time with Zach Miller’s Sun Rae’s Triumph. He finished the month with six winners, twice scoring with Cs Flying Co-Pilot and three times with Sun Rae’s Triumph.

“Zach started it off this year for me,” Anthony said. “He put me on some really good horses to start off. He kind of got my name out there and he stuck with me this entire time.”

Anthony has driven the open-class mare Blessed Beginning, a Zach Miller trainee, as well as victorious freshman pacing colts Prime Image and Freaky Lover. He also drove four-time runner-up Nu Chex To Cash, another 2-year-old colt from the stable. Anthony and Zach Miller connected for a $50,000 Indiana Sires Stakes consolation victory with Prime Image.

Despite less than a year of pari-mutuel seniority to his credit, Anthony is listed in the Hoosier Park record books. His success with Zach Miller-trained horses led to an opportunity to guide entries from the Aaron Stutzman barn. One of those was the young pacing filly Fitterjake, a freshman he piloted four times in Indiana Sires Stakes, collecting three wins and equaling the track record with a 1:49.2 clocking to match My Girl EJ’s 2023 mark. She later won the $250,000 Super Final with Scott Zeron in the bike.

Through Hoosier Park’s Thursday (Nov. 5) program, Anthony has 27 wins to his credit in 348 starts. The 25-year-old driver ranks 10th in the track’s seasonal standings, and has $527,484 in purses earned.

“I have all 27 wins recorded in my phone,” he said. “I usually watch them at least once a week.”

Anthony is doing everything within his power to make the most of each chance to sit behind a horse. Driving back and forth from his home two hours north of the track, the up-and-coming reinsman has put 67,000 miles on his truck since February. Two months ago, he started working for trainer Jeff Cullipher, and he moved closer to Anderson with his wife and young daughter, renting a home for the time being.

“I lived 45 minutes from dad,” Anthony said. “We had eight to 10 horses of our own going earlier this year. I was driving 45 minutes over there in the morning. Working our horses, jogging, training, doing all that stuff. Then going to Hoosier and racing at night, just driving back and forth every night. If qualifiers were in the morning, then I’d just spend the night. Tuesday nights, going into Wednesdays, I’d just spend the night. Then go home Wednesday night after my last one. That would be four hours on the road, five nights a week. Back and forth.

“My little girl turned 1 in October. I didn’t see her except on Sundays. I’d come home and she’d be sleeping. I’d get home at 3 o’clock in the morning and be back on the road by 6 o’clock in the morning.

“So, we decided to move down. We’re investing everything into it and hoping we can make it work out for us. Hopefully God wants us on this path for a reason.”

Anthony has dropped 100 pounds, give or take a pound or two, and believes he can still shave off more weight. He is thrilled to suit up and drive against defending leading driver Trace Tetrick, John De Long, Marcus Miller, Ross, Kyle Wilfong, and the rest of the colony. Anthony has set his sights on honing his skills as a full-time catch driver in the Hoosier State and building upon the success he has already achieved.

“I’ve got a taste for it now. I love it,” Anthony said. “There’s no better feeling than being in that race bike. For me, it’s something I’ve dreamed about. Hopefully, I can keep showing up and giving 100 per cent. God willing, He can help me do this.”