Miller’s Deer In Range looks to continue hot start
At 2h56, on May 9, 2026 • By Wes Mayberry, OHHA
Last December, Allen Miller did something a little out of character.
“A lot of times, I don’t buy 2-year-olds that didn’t race because I don’t know their backstory,” said Miller, of Millersburg, Ohio. “But with this one, I actually knew the backstory and decided to give him a chance.”
The horse he is referring to is 3-year-old In Range gelded trotter Deer In Range. Consigned by breeder Aaron Yoder at Miller’s farm, the horse was deemed too small to race last year.
“They broke him and jogged him for a couple weeks and then turned him out for the year,” Miller said.
However, as Deer In Range was being prepped to race as a 3-year-old, Miller liked what he saw. When he discovered the horse was being sold at the North American Standardbred Mixed Sale in Mount Hope, he intended to buy him.
“He just had a really nice way of going and was a very calm-natured horse with a good attitude. That caught my attention, and then I sat behind him and really liked him,” Miller said. “That’s when I decided to buy him, and it turned out to be a good buy.”
That “good buy” has done nothing but win this year, going 4-for-4 in overnight races at Northfield Park Racino with a career-best mark of 1:58.2. Miller said Deer In Range has improved every start, and he credits driver Chris Lems in aiding the horse’s development.
“I told Lems that I just wanted to teach him how to be a good racehorse, and he has done a really good job teaching him how to race and getting him to the winner’s circle,” he said. “The last race is when he really figured it out — he knows what he’s supposed to do now.”
Next up for Deer In Range is the first leg of the Buckeye Stallion Series on Saturday (May 9) at Eldorado Scioto Downs. The 16-race card includes five $20,000 divisions of sophomore male trotters and six $20,000 divisions of sophomore male pacers. Despite drawing the far outside post position, Deer In Range is the 2-1 morning-line favorite in the fifth division of male trotters. For his part, Miller isn’t counting him out.
“The nine-hole can be brutal, but we’ll have to wait and see,” he said. “He’s very versatile — he’s been raced on the front, and he likes chasing down horses. Hopefully he’ll be on his ‘A’ game.”
