Katie Gene Miller may be a minority in the drivers’ colony as a 19-year-old female, but the up-and-coming reinswoman is looking beyond that fact as she aspires for success like any other newcomer in the harness racing world

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“I just didn’t understand why it was such a big deal that I was doing this,” said Miller, who discusses her burgeoning career in an article in The Guardian by Nicholas Oakes. “I understand that, yes, I’m 19 and not many 19-year-olds have their license, but the bigger deal was that I was female. There are people who look at me and say, ‘Oh you’re so tough to be doing this.’ And I know they aren’t saying it because I’m 19 years old."

Miller won her first pari-mutuel race on June 19 at Inverness Raceway with Race Me Volcano and has gone on to compile a record reading 13-14-11 in 111 starts since. Among her early conquests including winning the Young Guns driving competition during FREX week at Fredericton Raceway, beating out some other up-and-coming male drivers from the Maritimes and Maine.

The Nova Scotia native, who is currently living in Charlottetown while enrolled in the pre-veterinary program at the University of Prince Edward Island, says she aspires to be like the leading female driver in Canadian harness racing, fellow Nova Scotian Clare MacDonald.

“Clare is a goddess to me,” she said. “People say to me, ‘Oh, you’re going to be the next Clare.’ Well, I have got a long way to go. But it’s definitely a huge compliment to hear that.”

To read The Guardian article in its entirety, click here.

(With files from The Guardian)