Former power lineman Bernie Miller knows all about working off the ground, but could be scaling heights he probably would not want to come down from should Jokers Grin win Perth's richest race on April 26, The Quokka (1,200m).
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
