Walter Miller (jockey)

Walter Miller (1890–1959) was an American jockey.[1][2][3]

Walter Miller
OccupationJockey
Born1890
Brooklyn, New York,
United States
Died1959
Career wins1,094
Major racing wins
United States:
Excelsior Handicap (1905, 1906)
Santa Anita Handicap (Ascot Park)
(1905, 1906)
Sheepshead Bay Handicap
(1905, 1906, 1908)
Alabama Stakes (1906)
Brighton Mile (1906)
Brighton Junior Stakes (1906, 1907)
Champagne Stakes (1906, 1907)
Foam Stakes (1906)
Flying Handicap (1906)
Great Trial Stakes (1906, 1907)
Huron Handicap (1906, 1907)
Junior Champion Stakes (1906, 1907)
Matron Stakes (1906, 1907)
National Stallion Stakes (1906, 1907)
Pansy Stakes (1906)
Russet Stakes (1906)
Second Special Stakes (1906)
Toboggan Handicap (1906)
Travers Stakes (1906)
Vernal Stakes (1906, 1907)
Zephyr Stakes (1906)
Belles Stakes (1907)
Belmont Futurity Stakes (1907)
Brooklyn Handicap (1907)
Dwyer Stakes (1907)
Flatbush Stakes (1907)
Laureate Stakes (1907)
Pierrepont Handicap (1907)
Saratoga Cup (1907)
Saratoga Handicap (1907)
Saratoga Special Stakes (1907)
Double Event Stakes (part 1) (1908)
Spindrift Stakes (1908)
Tidal Stakes (1908)
Juvenile Stakes (1909)

Europe:
Preis des Winterfavoriten (1909)

American Classic race wins:
Preakness Stakes (1906)

Racing awards
United States Champion Jockey by wins (1906, 1907)
Honours
U.S. Racing Hall of Fame (1955)
International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame (1983)
Significant horses
Ballot, Colin, Peter Pan, Running Water, Whimsical

Miller was born in Brooklyn, New York.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

He rode in his first race at age 14.[5] At the age of 16, he won 388 races, a record not broken until Anthony DeSpirito did it in 1952. Between the years 1905 and 1908 Miller won 1,094 races from 4,336 mounts for an extraordinary 25.2 winning percentage.[2][3][5][7] He led the U.S. in victories in both 1906 and 1907.[8][8]

In 1906, he won the Preakness on Whimsical.[8][9] He also won the Travers Stakes, Alabama Stakes, Champagne Stakes, Saratoga Special Stakes, and Brooklyn Handicap.[8]

He was the United States National Riding Champion in 1906 and 1907.[3][5][10]

In his career, more than half the time his horse finished "in the money".[5][8] On July 29, 1906, Walter Miller rode five winners on a single racecard at Brighton Beach Race Course. [11] He set a record by riding eight consecutive winners, over a two-day period at Benning Race Track.[5] His career ended in the United States after he gained weight as a late teenager.[8] In 1909 and 1910 he rode primarily in Australia and Europe where weight restrictions were less stringent.[8]

Walter Miller was inducted into the U.S. Racing Racing Hall of Fame in 1955, into the Jockey Hall of Fame in 1957, and into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1983.[5][8]

Winning the Futurity, 1915 silent film made by the Walter Miller Feature Film Company

References
  1. Peter S. Horvitz, Joachim Horvitz (2001). The Big Book of Jewish Baseball: An Illustrated Encyclopedia & Anecdotal History. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  2. Rita James Simon (1997). In the golden land: a century of Russian and Soviet Jewish immigration in America. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  3. Peter S. Horvitz (2007). The Big Book of Jewish Sports Heroes; An Illustrated Compendium of Sports History and The 150 Greatest Jewish Sports Stars. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  4. Bob Wechsler (2008). Day by day in Jewish sports history. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  5. "Walter Miller". Jewishsports.net. April 3, 1906. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  6. "Jews In American Sports". Jews in Sports. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  7. "Under the Wire". TIME. January 12, 1953. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  8. "National Museum of Racing, Hall of Fame, Jockeys". Racingmuseum.org. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  9. Encyclopædia Britannica almanac 2008. 2009. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  10. Ilana Abramovitch, Seán Galvin (2002). Jews of Brooklyn. Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  11. New York Times, July 29, 1906
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