Miller plays his Joker for $4.2m
The 70-year-old has been an off-and-on hobby trainer for four decades, relying on his day job at an electrical company to pay the bills.
Fatter cheques did, however, come his way with, amazingly, five "black type" winners among his haul of 67 winners all-up.
It is no coincidence those highlights occurred after he turned to training full-time in 2007, albeit still on a boutique scale.
The stable star had all along been Cup Night, who won the 2021 Group 3 Northam Stakes and two Listed races in 2019 and 2020.
Such is the romance of racing that Cup Night's full brother has now become Miller's "horse of a lifetime" - and is now in the hunt for the thicker end of a A$5 million (S$4.2 million) bounty.
Fourth on debut at Belmont, the son of Maschino out of Walk In Beauty then struck a purple patch of five wins in a row.
After he found one better in his last 2024 race, he would have been unbeaten in two Ascot starts in his 2025 campaign, if not for a successful protest from his joint winner The Boss Lady in the Group 3 Roma Cup (1,100m) on April 12.
Miller and his dream horse will now be thrust against not only leading home teams like Grant & Alana Williams (Western Empire) and Simon Miller (Generosity and West Star), but also big guns from Sydney, including three-time Quokka bidder Overpass, and a dual Kiwi Group 1 winner, Crocetti.
Regardless of state or country, everybody loves to root for the underdog, a mantle which Miller seems to relish.
"I'm a small trainer and, for a small trainer to be involved in a five million-dollar race in your home state, it's something very very special," said Miller to Racing.com TV.
"To win The Quokka will be bloody tough. But can he win it? Why can't he?
"I think Jokers Grin is going to be better than Cup Night. He's got a beautiful long stride on him, he's got a tank on him. I think he's got all the attributes of a true athlete.
"I kept a lid on him for quite a while. We didn't know how good he was, but Paddy knows that because he's steering him."
"Paddy" is Jokers Grin's exclusive partner and also Miller's go-to jockey, Patrick Carbery.
From Perth, he often drives 50km down south to work Jokers Grin at Miller's yard in Hopeland.
Like Miller, the lightweight veteran jockey is undaunted by the task ahead, even after drawing the widest in 13.
The close to 1,800-race winner nearly beat Overpass at the inaugural The Quokka by steering then Perth darling Amelia's Jewel from the outermost alley in 14.
"It's not the preferred barrier, but that's the way it is, and we'll work it out," said Carbery to Racing WA.
"You don't have control over what barriers you get; they're the cards you're dealt and I'm not deflated at all.
"Whatever happens, I'll work it out and luck always plays a part in bigger races. I just know the horse is going good and that's the main part of it.
"He's going really well, going exceptional, Bernie's happy with him, I'm happy with him.
"His work on Saturday was good and he's not in the race just for fun, put it that way."
Surely there are five million reasons, but Carbery himself seems to be riding only for one cause.
"To win The Quokka for Bernie would be outstanding. No-one deserves it more than him," he said.
Win, lose or draw, it will still spark up the former lineman's life for some time to come.
"Jokers Grin is by far the best horse I've ever had and I believe I'll ever have," said Miller.
"He means a lot to me and brings out the tingles and the feelings within. It's once in a lifetime to have a horse like him."
manyan@sph.com.sg
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Singapore Luxury items seized in $3b money laundering case handed over to Deloitte for liquidation Singapore Power switchboard failure led to disruption in NEL, Sengkang-Punggol LRT services: SBS Transit Singapore NEL resumes service after hours-long power fault; single-track service on Sengkang-Punggol LRT Business Ninja Van cuts 12% of Singapore workforce after 2 rounds of layoffs in 2024 Singapore Hyflux investigator 'took advantage' of Olivia Lum's inability to recall events: Davinder Singh Singapore Man who stabbed son-in-law to death in Boon Tat Street in 2017 dies of heart attack, says daughter Singapore Scoot to launch flights to Chiang Rai, Okinawa, Tokyo-Haneda, boost frequency to other places Singapore Man who stalked woman blasted by judge on appeal for asking scandalous questions in court Hari and Miller, both in their 40s, emerged as food commentators in the 2010s amid a boom in social media influencing, when a single post going viral could help rocket its author to fame and fortune. 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The blog reached well beyond her immediate circle and led to book deals and the creation of Truvani, a line of supplements now sold at Target and Walmart. More recently, she has become a sort of mascot of the MAHA movement, though she is a registered Democrat, according to public voter registration records. At a press conference in April, at which Kennedy announced the administration's intention to phase out synthetic food dyes, Hari was an opening act, appearing in a bejeweled white suit before a room of press and MAHA supporters. When Kennedy took the stage, he called her an "extraordinary leader." She said she does not have a formal role in the administration. Miller wanted her own pulpit after she began noticing Hari's content in 2014. A commercial farmer of soybeans, corn and livestock in Iowa at the time, Miller said she posted a comment on Hari's Facebook page taking issue with her claims about the toxicity of GMO crops. After that, Miller said, she was blocked. 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West Virginia in March banned some synthetic food dyes from being sold in the state, and Arizona and Utah have recently banned a list of synthetic food dyes in school meals. Communications firm Edelman found in a large, global public opinion survey taken in 2024 that people, especially those aged 18-34, are increasingly disregarding the advice of credentialed medical providers in favor of recommendations from friends, family and social media. As Lauri Baker, a professor of agricultural communication at the University of Florida, says: "In almost any study we've conducted, people are more likely to trust someone who looks like them, thinks like them, who they believe is like them." REUTERS
