With five wins during the second week of the meeting, Peter Miller moved past Charlie Whittingham for 10th place on Del Mar’s all-time wins list for trainers.
Miller started the meeting with 277 victories here, four behind the legendary Whittingham, and entered Week II needing only one to tie the Hall of Fame conditioner here. The tying win came in Thursday’s third race (Convoluted, Flavien Prat, $4.20), the tie-breaker in Friday’s fourth (Duranga, Jorge Velez, $4.40). Another win on Friday and one each on Saturday and Sunday have Miller at 285, seven behind Mel Stute for ninth.
As a teenager, Miller wanted to be a jockey but was advised he’d outgrow his chances. As an alternative, he worked as a groom during summers in high school then was given his first full-time job as a groom by Whittingham right after he graduated.
Informed Wednesday morning that he had passed his mentor, Miller recoiled slightly and said “Wow, that’s shocking” before reflecting on days with the venerable “Bald Eagle” of Southern California racing.
“It was great to work for him, and for me it was like going into the military,” Miller said. “I needed the discipline and the structure. I think I was 17 and at that age I was a bit of a loose horse. With Charlie, I really learned how to work and be responsible.
“I was afraid to look at him the first six months. If he’d come down the shedrow I’d avert my eyes. Afraid he might melt me or something.
“But then, after that we became very friendly and he was a great guy.”
Whittingham died in 1999 at the age of 86, but his legacy lives on in Miller and several others who learned under him.
“I’ve brought in some of my own stuff, and stuff that I’ve picked up from other trainers. But every day the stuff that I’ve learned from Charlie is still applicable,” Miller said.
Miller enters Week III of the meeting with an 8-5 advantage over Richard Baltas atop the trainer standings. Miller is in pursuit of his second straight summer championship and fourth straight overall counting fall meeting triumphs in 2017 and 2018.
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