Like many in the industry, Sharon Miller was introduced to racing by a family member, her Grandfather was a trainer. She would help him out as much as she could and follow him around at the races.
At fifteen years-of-age she decided she wanted leave school and work at a stud farm, her parents were not happy with this decision so she also had to move out of home and live at the farm as they refused to pick her up.
Learning and gaining experience daily, Miller wanted to expand on her knowledge and started working for a few different trainers.
In the season of 1981/82, she decided she wanted to be a trainer in her own rights, so she started the process of trying to acquire some runners.
“It was really hard back then,” Miller said.
“There were no female trainers, so you only got average horses and a lot of them had problems, I’d put all my time and effort into trying to get them right and back to the track.”
Miller did have some success with this and has fond memories of getting Bo’ Trouble back to the track, backing her in from $30 to single figures and winning first-up in town.
Continuously working hard and proving her credentials with these horses, Miller started to receive more support and in-turn received some better horses.
Miller has had success all over Western Australia, she has fond memories of Belmont Park as she loves that every horse gets their chance to win, but it’s Kalgoorlie where she has her fondest memories and believes at times it’s been her lucky track.
Having been in the industry for forty years now, Miller believes she’s really noticed change in the last fifteen.
“Paula Wagg and Jackie Pateman really made change happen in Western Australia,” she said.
“Look at how many female apprentices we have in the state now, it is amazing to see how far we’ve come.”
Despite those early mornings and dealing with all types of conditions, Miller has no intentions of retiring and says that training winners will continue to drive her for many years to come.