ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Peter Miller has been suspended seven days, fined $2,500, and placed on probation through October 2019 – when his current license expires – for what Santa Anita stewards in a ruling issued Sunday said was because of “derogatory words about a licensee’s unborn baby” in an incident last September at the San Luis Rey Downs training center, where Miller was based at the time. Miller will be denied access to all California Horse Racing Board premises – including Santa Anita, which is racing, and Del Mar, where Miller is currently based – during the suspension, from April 2-8. The ruling also states that Miller must undergo anger-management education through the Winners Foundation. The ruling said it was the seventh offense for Miller for disorderly conduct related to “aggressive/abusive behavior.” Miller did not attend a hearing on the matter March 12, according to steward Scott Chaney. The hearing had been held over from a previous date owing to a continuance, Chaney said. “Neither he nor his attorney showed up,” Chaney said. “We had four witnesses. What we were told was really ugly.” The licensee at whom the words were spoken, Stephanie Murray, who works for trainer Doug O’Neill, was seven months pregnant at the time with a girl who is now 3 months old. Murray worked as an assistant for Miller for three years before moving to O’Neill’s employ eight months ago, Murray said Monday. She was one of the four witnesses who testified at the March 12 hearing. Miller on Sunday admitted to losing his cool but said he and Murray, whom he said he accused at the time of trying to steal employees, had long since made peace over the incident and said he believed the stewards and their employer, the CHRB, were “trying to retaliate against me” for his past statements about their competency. “This is an effort by the stewards and the CHRB to embarrass me,” Miller said. “She dropped the complaint. She was trying to steal my help. That’s a no-no. I apologized. She apologized. It was an unfortunate incident. We’re friendly now. In fact I saw her and spoke to her today. “This is more about me being outspoken about the stewards, who I think leave a lot to be desired, and the CHRB, which I think leaves a lot to be desired. It’s basically retribution. I’ve never heard of a complaint being dropped and still going forward.” Miller said he was “never notified of the hearing” on March 12 and in fact was in Ocala, Fla., at a 2-year-old sale at the time. “They never asked me for my side of the story,” Miller said. Murray on Monday described her relationship with Miller as “cordial, that’s about it.” “Friendly, no,” she said. “Cordial, yes.” She said she chose to be cordial owing to O’Neill and Miller being assigned to adjacent barns at Del Mar following the devastating fire last December at San Luis Rey Downs, forcing their relocation. Murray said she “did not want to be labeled as victim” in this situation, but thought it important to speak out. She questioned if this incident would have been handled more proactively if the accused wasn’t someone as prominent as Miller. “It hasn’t been fun, but I don’t want this to be woe-is-me,” Murray said Monday. “People know this goes on, and has gone on for a long time. Does Pete get a pass because of his status as a trainer, because of the status of his owners? If a hot walker was as aggressive as he was would they have been escorted off the grounds that day? Why is he getting so many chances? Those are the questions I’m putting out and have people think about. “As far as apologizing, I don’t know what I had to apologize for. Five of his employees came to me looking for work. He’s accusing me of something I didn’t do.” Murray said Miller berated her in full view of a number of people and said trainer Adam Kitchingman “stood up” for her and intervened. “Ten people saw it,” she said. “He took the initiative.”