Late trainer Miller to be honored

The late trainer Robert M. Miller will be honored at Great Lakes Downs with a permanent memorial. The feature, the $50,000 Sickle's Image Stakes, will then be run in his memory. The race, for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs, is headed by Valley Loot, winner of the Temptress Stakes. Valley Loot will face four of her Temptress rivals, plus two new shooters.

Valley Loot, from the Ronnie Allen barn, is owned by Allen's daughter, Kimberly, and will be ridden by his son, Mike, just as she was in the Temptress three weeks ago. She won by nearly two lengths that day over Dublin Dutchess and Stelvio.

Dublin Dutchess will be coupled with Tinsel Time in the Sickle's Image, as both are owned by Henry Mast. Dublin Dutchess went to the lead early in the Temptress as the favorite but yielded late to the winner. Trainer Robert Gorham has again engaged leading rider Terry Houghton.

Tinsel Time, a maiden who finished fourth in the Temptress, will get blinkers for this race and be ridden by Jose Delgado.

Stelvio is trained by Gerald Bennett, who tops the standings at the meet. Freddie Mata rides.

o Bob Miller, who died on Aug. 7, was a fixture at Great Lakes Downs and at the now-closed Detroit Race Course. Miller was president of the Michigan Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and was a mainstay in the Michigan breeding program. He and his wife, Delphine, who will be on hand for the ceremony, operated the Del-Rob Farm. A jockey statue painted in their farm colors and a plaque honoring Miller will be unveiled prior to the running of the Sickle's Image Stakes, which is named for the nation's top handicap mare of 1953.