Miller shares Santa Anita fall meet title

Peter Miller shared the trainer title for the Santa Anita Park fall meet, and on the final weekend his San Luis Rey Training Center horses won at three different tracks including the victory of Lil Miss Moppet in the Pinot Grigio Stakes at Monmouth Park.

"We're extremely happy to win the title," Miller said.

Miller and Bob Baffert each had 11 victories during the Santa Anita fall meet which began Sept. 25 and concluded Oct. 24. Doug O'Neill, who trains some of his horses at San Luis Rey, finished third with 10 wins.

Sharing the trainer title rather than not winning it outright was gratifying rather than disappointing for Miller.

"There are no ties in horse racing," he said. "A tie is a win in horse racing."

Miller noted that if a dead heat for first place is declared both horses are credited with the victory.

The Santa Anita winter meet began Dec. 28 and concluded March 29. Santa Anita's spring/summer meet ran from May 15 to June 21. The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club summer meet opened July 10 and closed Sept. 7. Miller also won the trainer championships for those meets.

"We've won every title so far in Southern California," Miller said.

The Del Mar fall meet began Oct. 31 and will conclude Nov. 29.

"If we can win Del Mar it would be a clean sweep of the titles in Southern California. It's going to be hard, but I'm hoping for it. That would be a great accomplishment for our team," Miller said.

Miller's horses don't necessarily run in Southern California, he said.

"We're trying to win races wherever we are," he said. "We're spread out and my assistant Felipe Souza does a great job back East."

My Princess Ellie won the first race Oct. 23 at Santa Anita. Backshot won the eighth race Oct. 23 at the Keeneland track in Lexington, Kentucky. The Pinot Grigio Stakes was held Oct. 24.

"It was a great weekend," Miller said.

My Princess Ellie ran in a one-mile dirt race for 2-year-old fillies who had not previously won a race. The filly sired by Temple City out of Quiet Royal was ridden by Flavien Prat. Miller also saddled Take Her Temp, with Ricardo Gonzalez as her jockey, in that race.

I'm All The Jedi broke first with My Princess Ellie breaking second and Take Her Temp becoming the fourth horse out of the gate. After half a mile, I'm All The Jedi led My Princess Ellie by half a length with Take Her Temp in third place.

The first three-quarters of a mile took My Princess Ellie 1:13.63, and by that point she had moved into the lead. She was half a length in front of I'm All The Jedi while Take Her Temp was in fifth.

My Princess Ellie entered the stretch 1:27.08 after the race began, and she held a full-length lead over I'm All The Jedi at that point. Take Her Temp had moved into fourth, trailing third-place Big Chick by three lengths.

A margin of three-quarters of a length separated My Princess Ellie and I'm All The Jedi at the finish line. Take Her Temp finished fourth behind Big Chick.

My Princess Ellie was foaled in Kentucky Feb. 17, 2018. Her first career race was June 10 at the Lone Star Park track in Grand Prairie, Texas, and she finished sixth. She took fifth place July 31, at Del Mar and ninth among the 11 horses in the Sept. 6 Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf Stakes at Del Mar before winning in her fourth career race and her Santa Anita debut. First place Oct. 23 was worth $15,400 of the $25,800 total purse, and her career earnings are now $17,100.

Baffert's horse Beautiful Gift won the following race, and on Oct. 24, Classier won the ninth race to give Baffert his 11th win of the meet.

Backshot was ridden by Tyler Gaffalione. The seven-furlong dirt race for 3-year-olds and upward who had not won two races had eight horses. Backshot and Gaffalione broke first but settled back, and after a quarter of a mile, they were in third place a length behind leader Prioritizer and half a length in back of second-place And Seek.

The order and margins of the top three horses were unchanged after half a mile.

Prioritizer fell back to seventh by the time the horses entered the stretch while And Seek was fifth. Backshot approached the stretch in first place 1:11:30 after the starter's gate was opened, and he held a one-length lead over second-place Market Analysis.

Takafumi moved up from fourth to second during the stretch and finished half a length behind Backshot, whose winning time was 1:23.97.

First place was worth $17,400 of the $29,000 total purse. Backshot increased his career earnings to $68,354, and his second career victory was in his seventh career race.

Backshot is a ridgling who was foaled in Kentucky March 31, 2017. He has Tapiture for his sire and Awesomekaylee as his dam. His only race as a 2-year-old was an August 2019 race at Del Mar which was a fifth-place finish for him.

He had 10 timed workouts at San Luis Rey during the first three months of 2020 before Miller shipped him for races at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, Churchill Downs in Louisville and Monmouth Park. He broke his maiden Aug. 29, by winning a six-furlong dirt race at Monmouth Park.

Monmouth Park is in the New Jersey town of Oceanport. The Pinot Grigio Stakes is for fillies and mares 3 years old and upward. Lil Miss Moppet was one of 10 horses in the 5 1/2-furlong race which was initially scheduled for Monmouth Park's turf course but moved to the dirt track.

Lil Miss Moppet and jockey Joe Bravo broke first and never trailed. Windixiewin spent the entire race in second place. The trip from the starter's gate to the stretch required 58.28 seconds for Lil Miss Moppet. Her final margin of victory was three lengths, and her winning time was 1 minute, 4.96 seconds.

The Pinot Grigio Stakes had a total purse of $78,000. The first-place amount of $45,000 gave Lil Miss Moppet career earnings of $172,797.

Uncle Mo sired Lil Miss Moppet, who was carried by Winiliscious before being foaled Jan. 24, 2016, in New Jersey. She had 13 timed workouts at San Luis Rey between Dec. 31 and March 28 before Miller shipped her to Oaklawn Park. Although she lost her first three career races, she broke her maiden Aug. 30 at Monmouth Park and won her subsequent three races, all of which were at Monmouth Park.

"We've got a terrific team. It's a team sport, and I'm just the captain of the team," Miller said.

Joe Naiman can be reached by email at [email protected].