Injured driver Andy Miller scheduled to return to
racing along with his world-champion mare Perfect Alliance
EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – After keeping each other company on the sidelines
for the past several months, driver Andy Miller and his world champion trotting
mare, Perfect Alliance, are nearing an official return to the races.
After fracturing a pair of
lumbar vertebrae in an accident at Yonkers Raceway on April 15, Miller returned
to the races Tuesday (October 14) morning to drive the mare to a 35-length
victory in 1:54.2 in a qualifying race at Harrah’s Philadelphia.
“I felt very good this
morning, obviously I’m still feeling the injury a little bit but it’s not
bothering me,” said Miller. “I plan to ease back into racing. I’m not ready to
drive 10 horses a day, but my plan is to be fully back by the time the
Meadowlands opens on November 14.”
Perfect Alliance was also
off-track for more than a month this summer. Beginning in June, she spent six
weeks recovering at Allerage Farm in New York after battling sickness and other
health issues upon returning from racing in Canada. The 4-year-old mare stormed
to an 11-race winning streak earlier this season, including a win in the Miss
Versatility Series at Woodbine in a world-record time of 1:51.2
“She came back from her time
off and looks super,” said trainer Julie Miller, who is also Andy’s wife. “She
put weight on and she’s been feeling great. We took her with us to Lexington
last month so we could work with her every day. All along, we’ve said we would
let her tell us when she was ready.”
With few racing options in
the immediate future, Team Miller says the plan is to have Perfect Alliance
qualify for racing once again next week. Her first race back is scheduled to be
the $148,000 Muscle Hill Mare Trot at Vernon Downs on November 1 followed by
the Breeders Crown at the Meadowlands. Perfect Alliance is owned in partnership
by Jeff Gural’s Little E LLC, Jason Settlemoir, Dave Stolz and Art Geiger.
“We know everyone has a
watchful eye on her,” said Miller. “The owners supported the decision to give
her a rest, especially after she raced so hard over the winter. I think we did
the right thing by her. Most of the other top mares have been racing hard
straight through the summer and fall and hopefully we can be fresh and pick up
the pieces here at the end of the year.”
Andy has a final checkup with
his doctor Wednesday then will plan his official return to the races. While
he’s looking forward to the return, his wife is taking a more cautious
approach: “If it were up to me, he’d only drive our own horses at first. I’ve
gotten used to having him around all the time during his injury. It was nice to
see him so much,” stated Julie Miller.
Andy Miller has won more than
8,000 races in his career with purse earnings of more than $100 million.
