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National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Cont’d. four lengths. He then defeated older horses in the inaugural Pacific Classic, outlasting Twilight Agenda and 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Unbridled to the wire. Although a fourth-placed finish in Louisiana’s Super Derby knocked the gelding out of contention for an Eclipse Award, the race boosted Best Pal’s earnings to over $2 million and earned him his second California Horse of the Year title, as well as the honor for Champion Three-Year-Old Male. Now under the care of trainer Gary Jones, who took over shortly before the Pacific Classic, Best Pal shook off a trio of late season losses and entered 1992 an even better horse. In the span of five months, he nailed down the grade II San Fernando Stakes, the Strub Stakes and $1,000,000 Santa Anita Handicap, both grade I events, and moved past Snow Chief as the richest Cal-bred of all time in the grade I, $500,000 Oaklawn Park Handicap. Unfortunately, Best Pal was injured in the Pimlico Special and missed the rest of the year, losing his Eclipse Award as Champion Older Male to Pleasant Tap, but he earned that award in California, as well as his third straight local Horse of the Year trophy.
Best Pal’s connections contended that the bay gelding was never as good after returning from the injury. That is quite a statement, considering that Best Pal breached the $4 million earnings benchmark while winning the grade I, $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at age five, followed by the $250,000 California Cup Classic in the fall. At six, in the care of trainer Richard Mandella, he won the grade III Native Diver Handicap, and managed to win the grade II San Antonio Handicap at age seven. After a lone poor start as an eight-year-old, Best Pal was finally retired. The hometown hero returned to Golden Eagle Farm with $5,668,245 in earnings and 18 wins, 11 seconds and four thirds in 47 starts. He won 17 stakes races and is widely considered to be the best horse to never win an Eclipse Award. His record eight California championships outweigh that one glaring omission from his biography. After appearing bored in retirement, Best Pal was given a job as a track pony at Golden Eagle in Ramona. Unfortunately, while at work, he died suddenly of an apparent heart attack in November of 1998. With his induction on Aug. 13, Best Pal will become the seventh Cal-bred to join the Hall of Fame, along with Ancient Title, Café Prince, Emperor of Norfolk, Native Diver, Swaps, and Tiznow who was honored in 2009.
Buster Millerick In The Hall Of Fame The National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame will induct Michael Ernest “Buster” Millerick this summer, after the Historic Review Committee process elected to honor the California horseman’s accomplishments. The committee was formed to consider candidates who have been inactive for at least 25 years. Millerick was born in Petaluma in 1905. After a brief career as a jockey and a rodeo stock handler in the 1920s, Millerick learned the Thoroughbred training game from Hall of Famer Tom Smith, who conditioned the immortal Seabiscuit. Millerick galloped Seabiscuit on occasion before switching to training full time. Millerick became a fixture on the Southern California circuit for nearly 50 years, winning training titles at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, Hollywood Park and Santa Anita Park. His 54 individual stakes winners included Countess Fleet, winner of the 1955 Milady and Vanity Handicaps, and the 1969 Del Mar Futurity winner George Lewis, a Californiabred son of Envoy. He also trained Fleet Nasrullah, who developed into one of the state’s leading sires, and Cal-bred Kissin’ George, a dazzling sprinter who scored 13 stakes victories in the 1960s. Millerick’s greatest success came with Native Diver ($1,026,500), a wildly popular, nearly black Cal-bred son of Imbros. Native Diver possessed blinding speed, but Millerick was able to coax that brilliance to hold over a route of ground: Native Diver won three straight Hollywood Gold Cups at 1 1/4 miles from 1965 through 1967. He won 37 of 81 starts, including 34 stakes races, while racing through
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seven seasons. The mighty racehorse died just days after winning the 1967 Del Mar Handicap under 130 pounds as an eight-year-old. He is buried at Hollywood Park, and was inducted into the national Hall of Fame in 1978. Mr. Prime Minister became Millerick’s final stakes winner, taking the grade III Los Angeles Handicap in 1983. Millerick retired in 1984, having won 1,886 races in his career. He died in Arcadia on Sept. 30, 1986.
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