Leading Perth trainer elects to go out on his own

Tom Walter - Monday October 23

Prominent Perth trainer Simon Miller and Aquanita Racing will part ways from January 1 next year.

Advertisement
Trainer Simon Miller (left) will leave his position at Aquanita Racing on January 1 next year.

Miller has prepared more than 400 winners since Aquanita appointed him to run their first Perth stable in 2008.

However, the trainer told The West Australian on Sunday that he is keen to establish his own operation.

"It's been great from my point of view starting off training and not having to worry about the financial and business side of it," Miller said.

"The landscape has changed here and I want to go full-on.

"From January 1, I'm on my own and I'm preparing my own colours now. The good thing is I've got the key component down, which is training, and now I can have a look at the business side of it.

"My partner Ellie Crispe wants to jump in and do all the accounts and the admin side of it. We've had good success.

"We've set a high standard and that's what we'll adhere to moving forward. Sometimes you get a bit stale and you need a new challenge – hopefully this is it."

Miller, who honed his craft under the tutelage of Robert Smerdon, John O'Shea, Tony Vasil and Robbie Griffiths, will remain at his current Ascot stable instead of returning to his home state of Victoria.

"I only have to go home and see how hard my mates are training there, seven days a week, driving four hours one day for a meeting and five hours the next," he said.

"When I realised I was going to lock myself down here, that was another reason to go out on my own.

"We're back on Sky Thoroughbred Central, the Ascot track looks amazing, Bunbury's standalone meeting was brilliant and prize money is going up again next year.

"There's a lot of positives. I'm in a good head space and I'm enjoying it here again."

Since setting up in the west, Miller has travelled a handful of horses over to the eastern states during carnival time, including last season's Group I Thousand Guineas (1600m) third placegetter Whispering Brook.

Advertisment
More Reading...
Apulia Unleashes Devastating Perth Cup Trial
Lightly raced five year old entire Apulia produced one of the best Perth Cup trials seen in years when he produced a finish Bernborough himself would have admired to take the weight for age G2 Ted Van Heemst Stakes at Ascot.
Tara Talks Racing - The Christmas Episode
A quickie to end the year and wish our listeners a very happy Christmas as we pick apart the Magic Millions contenders that have jumped out of the woodwork in the past week, who do we like heading into the Christmas break?    
Sires With Winners - Friday December 19
Here is the full list of 78 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Sword of State Yearlings to Lure Buyers to Karaka
Cambridge Stud stallion Sword Of State was represented by yet another highly promising two-year-old when the Bjorn Baker-trained Warwoven ran out an impressive winner of the TAB Plate (1000m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Widden Produce the Magic Winners
The beauty of buying a Magic Millions yearling is their eligibility for a rich program of races scheduled around the country and no farm has a better record for producing the winners of these races than Widden Stud with Unit Five the latest name added to the list.
G3 Eulogy Shines Spotlight On Emerging NZB Filly of the Year Contenders
Undefeated filly Well Written (Written Tycoon) has dominated the early stages of the 2025-26 NZB Filly of the Year Series, but the complexion of the series might start to change with this weekend’s fifth leg.
Mega Maiden Bonus for Up-And-Comer Chilling Out (NZ)
A lucrative victory in Wednesday’s NZB Mega Maiden Series (1400m) at Ruakaka could be a stepping stone to bigger things for Chilling Out (NZ) (Savabeel).
2025 Breednet Favourite Foal Winner
Firstly we’d like to thank everyone for taking an interest in our foal gallery and supporting their favourites, but there can only be one 2025 Favourite Foal and Vinery Stud’s first season sire Hawaii Five Oh has gained a jump on his rivals in producing his first winner!
Rising Northern Hemisphere Star for Ghaiyyath
As we come to the end of 2025, the stallion sitting on top of the Australian Second Season Sires table is Ghaiyyath (IRE) and one of his promising three year-olds in the Northern Hemisphere this year is Opera Ballo, a commanding winner of the Group II Al Rashidiya (1m1f) at Meydan overnight.
2026 Magic Millions Order of Entry 2YO and 3YO Updated
Racing Queensland have today released order of entry updates for the rich $3million Magic Millions 2YO Classic and 3YO Guineas to be run at the Gold Coast on January 17 with last week’s three 2YO debutants coming into the top 10.