Julie Miller celebrated her birthday in grand style on Friday afternoon (Nov. 20) at Freehold Raceway, as she earned the 2,000th training win of her career.

It didn't come easy, as Keystone Orion won the third race in a nail biter. Her son, Tyler, put the horse on the lead early, and set comfortable early fractions in the conditioned trotting affair. Around the third turn, favoured Bad Day Black Rock moved first-over and poked a head in front as they neared three-quarters.

As they turned for home, Bad Day Black Rock began to increase his lead on the outside. However, Tyler and Keystone Orion fought back, gamely duelling with their rival in the stretch. It was close, but the photo finish camera revealed that 11-year-old gelding Keystone Orion won by a nose.

Julie Miller registered her first ever training win in 1993 at Quad City Downs. Her career began to take off in the late 2000s, when she and her husband, Andy, relocated to the east coast from Illinois. Her stable cracked the $1 million mark in earnings for the first time in 2007, and won more than 100 races for the first time in 2009.

On the year, Miller now has 73 wins from 404 starts, with earnings of more than $3.2 million.

For Keystone Orion, it was his sixth win of the year from 18 starts. He has now earned more than $25,000 on the campaign. Andy Miller is the winning owner.

The Millers added on to their big day in race six, as Age Is A Number won by a length in what was her first start for the barn.

Live racing at Freehold continues on Saturday (Nov. 21), with a first post time of 12:30 p.m.

(Freehold Raceway)