4,000 for Brett Miller

Brett Miller scored the 4,000th victory of his career Thursday night at his home base of Scioto Downs. The 33-year-old reinsman started the card needing three wins, which he got in quick succession. He captured the second with favored Lady Millbucks; the fifth with longshot Betta Ona Freddie; then won his 4,000th with Country Welcome in the sixth.

Miller drove in his first pari-mutuel race in 1992, scoring just one win in 31 starts. He topped the 100 wins mark for the first time in 1999, and his career really took off in 2000, when he had 511 wins in 2,770 starts. He also topped a million in earnings for the first time that year, by a long shot, with his mounts banking $2,116,609. He’s bettered that number each year since, with his best season ever coming in 2004, when he won 639 races and earned nearly $3.1 million.

In 2001, his victory total of 523 placed him sixth among the continent’s best and was instrumental in Miller being selected as the United States Harness Writers’ Association’s Rising Star Award honoree. He ranked 10th in 2005, and is currently ninth among all drivers in North America for wins for the year. In addition to three previous Scioto Downs driving titles, he’s topped the driving standings at Northfield Park and Hoosier Park.

Miller will be recognized at Scioto after the first race on Ohio Super Night, Saturday, Sept. 9, and will be joined by his family and friends--including his father, driver-trainer Del S. Miller, mother Andrea, and cousins David Miller and Dean Collins. David Miller led the driving standings at Scioto for eight consecutive years in the 1990s prior to moving to the Meadowlands.

“The first couple of years I was driving, I remember thinking it would be amazing to win 1,000 races,” said Brett Miller. “I actually got my first break driving for the John Lee Stable, and then I starting keeping track of these things (milestones). Every year, my goal is to win 500 races.

“When this year started, I knew exactly how many I needed to get to 4,000,” he said. “When I realized how close I was getting, I thought I had a shot to do it Super Night at Scioto or during Jug Week at Delaware. I travel around a lot, so I was really glad to get at Scioto.” (Scioto Downs)

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