Miller to speak at Hall of Champions

San Luis Rey Downs Thoroughbred Training Center trainer Peter Miller will be a speaker at a San Diego Hall of Champions luncheon October 15.

Miller and handicapper Jon Lindo will be the Sports at Lunch featured speakers and will likely focus on the upcoming Breeders’ Cup races October 26-27.

San Diego Hall of Champions president Al Kidd believes that Miller and Lindo are the first-ever horse racing Sports at Lunch speakers. “It’s important because Del Mar’s such a big part of the community,” Kidd said. “We’re very interested in actually building a horse racing exhibit at the Hall.”

The Sports at Lunch will serve as a kickoff for the plans to create a horse racing exhibit at the Balboa Park museum, which would be on the first floor of the Hall of Champions where the surfing exhibit is currently located. (The surfing exhibit would be moved to the basement level.)

The exhibit, in cooperation with the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, is expected to include an interactive jockey ride in which visitors can experience the role of a jockey, information on odds and wagering, and information on the science of the horse as well as photographs, trophies, and other memorabilia. “We’re real enthused about it,” Kidd said.

Kidd added that such an exhibit would also increase the horse racing knowledge of Hall of Champions visitors. “We want to elevate the public’s awareness,” he said.

The Hall of Champions worked with Del Mar Thoroughbred Club consultant Julie Sarno to obtain Miller and Lindo. “The exciting thing about Peter Miller is that this season was really his breakthrough season at Del Mar,” Sarno said. “He had some very exciting horses racing.”

Miller won a total of 11 races during the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club meet, including the Del Mar Debutante with Set Play. Set Play is expected to compete in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies race October 27. “We’re delighted that we were able to land him,” Sarno said.

Miller was also the meet’s leading trainer for the first two weeks.

The 40-year-old Miller has been training at San Luis Rey Downs for approximately 15 years. “It’s nice to have a local San Diego County trainer going to the Breeders’ Cup,” Sarno said.

This year’s Breeders’ Cup will be held at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.

“Super to get a guy of his caliber to come in and talk about it,” Kidd said. “We’re real excited about it.”

Check-in for the Sports at Lunch begins at 11:15 a.m., although that will be followed by a time to eat and Miller and Lindo will begin their presentation closer to noon. The cost is $32 for Hall of Champions members and $40 for non-members in advance and $45 at the door.