MacKenzie "Mack" Todd Miller (October 16, 1921 – December 10, 2010) was an American

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorse trainer and owner/breeder. During his forty-six-year career, he conditioned seventy-two stakes winners, including four

Eclipse Award The Eclipse Award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing award named after the 18th-century British racehorse and sire, Eclipse. An Eclipse Award Trophy is presented to the winner in each division that is made by a few small selected America ...

champions.

Education and military service

Mack Miller grew up near the Keeneland Race Course, and attended its first race in 1936. He studied at the Bolles School in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

then at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state's ...

but interrupted his education to serve with the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. After the war's end, in 1947 he went to work as a stable hand for

Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegra ...

. He became involved with conditioning horses, and took out his training license in 1949.

Hall of Fame training career

Miller trained 1974

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey ...

winner

Snow Knight Snow Knight (28 February 1971 – 15 September 1992) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who won Britain's most prestigious race in 1974, the Derby, then the following year earned an Eclipse Award as the American Champion Male Turf Horse. Backgro ...

who had been purchased by E. P. Taylor; Snow Knight was selected 1975's American Champion Male Turf Horse. Miller also trained for Charles W. Engelhard, Jr. He was then was hired by

Paul Mellon Paul Mellon (June 11, 1907 – February 1, 1999) was an American philanthropist and an owner/ breeder of thoroughbred racehorses. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hal ...

for his Rokeby Stables. He and Mellon had their first

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-yea ...

win in 1993 with Sea Hero. Among their other successes,

Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

won the 1980

Brooklyn Handicap The Brooklyn Invitational Stakes (formerly known as the Brooklyn Handicap) is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York, on Long Island. It currently is a Grade II event open to four-year-o ...

, the

Suburban Handicap The Suburban Stakes is an American Grade II Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Open to horses age three and older, it is now run at the mile distance on dirt for a $700,000 purse. Named after the City and Su ...

, and the Marlboro Cup Invitational Handicap. In 1984,

Fit to Fight Fit to Fight (April 5, 1979 in Kentucky – May 30, 2008) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Handicap Triple Crown (also called the New York Handicap Triple) in 1984. Background Sired by Chieftain, a son of Bold Ruler, in t ...

won the

New York Handicap Triple The Handicap Triple Crown or New York Handicap Triple are the names used to refer to three American handicap races for older Thoroughbred racehorses run by the New York Racing Association at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The three races ar ...

, a feat accomplished just three times in the near one hundred years that the three races existed simultaneously. No horse has won the Handicap Triple since. Miller was inducted in the

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American Thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers. In 1955, the museum moved to its current location on Union Av ...

in 1987.National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame
There is a Mack Miller Exhibit at the

Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum The Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame and Museum was established in 1977 as a tribute to the famous flat racing and steeplechase Thoroughbred horses that trained in Aiken, South Carolina. The museum was a project of the local Jaycees, aid ...

, where he operated a winter training facility for many years before selling to Janice and Robert McNair, the then owners of

Stonerside Stable Stonerside Stable is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding farm and horse racing operation near Paris, Kentucky. Until September 2008 it was owned by Robert and Janice McNair, who also own the National Football League team, the Houston Texans ...

. Other honors he has received include the 1993 Honor Guest at the Thoroughbred Club of America's Testimonial Dinner from the National Turf Writers Association. Following his retirement, he was elected to

The Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the breed registry for Thoroughbred horses in the United States and Canada. It is dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing and fulfills that mandate by serving many segments of the industry through its s ...

in 1997. He was the co-breeder of

De La Rose De La Rose (1978–2001) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Kentucky, she was the daughter of English Triple Crown champion Nijinsky. Her grandsire was U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Northern Dancer, and her damsire was another ...

, the 1981

American Champion Female Turf Horse The American Champion Female Turf Horse award is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor. It is part of the Eclipse Awards program and is awarded annually to a female horse (filly or mare) for her performance on grass race courses. Until 1978 t ...

, and Chilukki, the 1999

American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly The American Champion Two-Year-Old Filly is an American Thoroughbred horse racing honor awarded annually to a female horse in Thoroughbred flat racing. It became part of the Eclipse Awards program in 1971. The award originated in 1936 when both ...

. Miller died at the

Hospital. He had been hospitalized on December 5 following a stroke.

Champions trained by Mack Miller

* Leallah –

(1956) * Assagai – American Champion Male Turf Horse (1966) *

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

– American Champion Male Turf Horse (1969) *

– American Champion Male Turf Horse (1975)

References

External links

Mr. and Mrs. MacKenzie (Mack) Miller at the NTRA

* ttp://www.drf.com/news/hall-fame-trainer-mack-miller-dies-age-89-0 Hall of Fame trainer Mack Miller dies at age 89 {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mackenzie 1921 births 2010 deaths United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II American horse trainers United States Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame inductees People from Versailles, Kentucky Bolles School alumni

Education and military service

Hall of Fame training career

Champions trained by Mack Miller

References

Further reading

External links