‘Team Miller’ — the wife-husband duo of trainer Julie and driver Andy — has hit the board in the past three Hambletonians and is hoping for more of the same on Saturday (August 3) with Summit In Sight. The colt is 20-1 on the morning line in the first elimination, where Gimpanzee is the 2-1 favourite.
“He is a longshot for the race, but we’re going to give him a chance,” Julie Miller said. “We think we’ve got him sharp and ready. Basically, we need a lot of luck and hopefully he puts his best foot forward.”
Summit In Sight, owned by Natalia Stroy’s Stroy Inc. and the Andy Miller Stable, was limited to two races in 2018 after suffering a bout of colic in the spring. He began this year with a sixth-place finish before putting together a streak of six starts where he finished either first (four times) or second. The string was broken when he went off stride and finished eighth in the Beal Memorial final. He heads to the Hambletonian off a fifth-place finish in a division of the Dancer.
Summit In Sight, pictured with Julie Miller.
“We shut him down thinking he could be a nice three-year-old,” Julie Miller said about the son of Muscle Hill-Bluff. “We got him ready early and he flashed some talent. He had some unfortunate luck in the Beal with how the fractions of the race went; we really thought we had a good chance in there.
“I trained him at the Meadowlands on Saturday just to get a good mile in him. I’m hoping I’ve got it all into place. He really developed from (age) two to three maturity-wise. His gait got more extended and he grew up mentally as well. He’s a more manageable horse, so however Andy chooses to drive him, suits him.”
Team Miller’s past three finishes in the Hambletonian were a second by Met’s Hall in 2018, third-placed second by Devious Man in 2017, and fast-closing third by Sutton in 2016.
“Hopefully we can keep that momentum going,” Julie Miller said.
To view the harness racing entries for Saturday at the Big M, click the following link: Saturday Entries – Meadowlands Racetrack.
(USTA)