Page 12 - The Hunt - Summer 2024
P. 12
TRIBUTE
10 THE HUNT MAGAZINE
summer 2024
Fearless Leader
F. Bruce Miller was a giant in the world of steeplechase and foxhunts.
Story and Photos by Jim Graham
Firom the very moment I came to Cheshire Country,
I noticed two people at
the front of the pack: Nancy Penn Smith Hannum and F. Bruce Miller. Hannum left us at the end of the 2010 season. Miller, our field master for decades, passed away at the end of this season on April 10. He was 89.
Miller was a legendary figure
in equestrian circles, not only in
the Brandywine Valley but also
in the steeplechase world. He trained Lonesome Glory, who won the title of American Champion Steeplechase Horse on a record five occasions. In a racing career that lasted from 1991 to 1999, Lonesome Glory ran 42 times and won 23 races, including many of America’s most important steeplechases. There was one win at the Breeders’ Cup Steeplechase, two at the Carolina Cup and three at the Colonial.
Lonesome Glory also became
one of the few American-trained horses to compete successfully in the United Kingdom, winning races in 1992 and 1995. A 1992
win in a novice race at Cheltenham gave Miller the distinction of being the first American trainer to take
a British National Hunt event. Lonesome Glory became the first American steeplechaser to win more than $1 million in prize money.
