Walter Miller (jockey)

Walter Miller (1890–1959) was an American jockey.^[1][2][3][4] In 1906, he won 388 races, becoming the first jockey to win more than 300 races in a single year, a record not broken until 1952. He was inducted for his achievements into the U.S. Racing Racing Hall of Fame, the Jockey Hall of Fame, and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Miller was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was an Orthodox Jew.^{[5][1][2][3][6][7][8]}

He rode in his first race at age 14.^[7]

At the age of 16, in 1906, he won 388 races, and became the first jockey to win more than 300 races in a single year (the following year he won 334 races).^[9][10] It was a record not broken until Willie Shoemaker exceeded it in 1952.^[10][5] He led the U.S. in victories in both 1906 and 1907, winning the United States National Riding Championship both years.^{[3][7][11][12][10]} Between 1905 and 1908, Miller won 1,094 races from 4,336 mounts which is an extraordinary 25.2 winning percentage.^{[5][2][3][7][13]}

In his career, more than half the time his horse finished "in the money".^[7][12] On July 29, 1906, Walter Miller rode five winners on a single racecard at Brighton Beach Race Course.^[14] He set a record by riding eight consecutive winners, over a two-day period at Benning Race Track.^[7]

In 1906, he won the Preakness on Whimsical.^[12][15] He also won the Travers Stakes, Alabama Stakes, Champagne Stakes, Saratoga Special Stakes, and Brooklyn Handicap.^[12]

Writer Sam Elias described Miller as “a better rider than Tod Sloan.” ^[5] He rode at times for James R. Keene’s stable, Newcastle Stables.^[5][10] Most of his career, he was managed by "Sunny Jim" Fitzimmons.^[10]

His career ended in the United States after he gained weight as a late teenager.^[12] He grew to 5’ 8.5” and 160 pounds.^[5] In 1909 and 1910, he rode primarily in Australia and Europe where weight restrictions were less stringent.^[12]

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.^{[10][7][12][5]}

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