Miller, Maker Develop Ex-Claimers into BC Contenders

Peter Miller and Michael Maker are based 2,000 miles apart, in Southern California and Kentucky. Both are not only multiple Breeders' Cup-winning trainers, they have each won with a former claimer and will try to do so again, this time against each other in the Nov. 6 Qatar Racing Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Del Mar.

Miller has won five Breeders' Cups: two with Roy H , one with Belvoir Bay , and two with Stormy Liberal , the latter claimed for $40,000. The year after that claim, Stormy Liberal won the 2017 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) for Gary Hartunian's Rockingham Ranch and repeated the next year with the same horse, whose ownership expanded to include David Bernsen. Stormy Liberal went on to win an Eclipse Award as the 2018 champion turf male.

For this year's Sprint, Miller brings C Z Rocket , who finished second to Whitmore  in the 2020 Sprint. Miller claimed C Z Rocket for $40,000 at Oaklawn Park for Tom Kagele just six months before last year's Breeders' Cup.

Maker has won three Breeders' Cups: one each with Fire At Will , Hansen , and Furthest Land , the latter claimed for $35,000. A year after that claim, Furthest Land won the 2009 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) for Ken and Sarah Ramsey.

For this year's Sprint, Maker brings Special Reserve . Maker claimed the 5-year-old son of Midshipman   for $40,000 at Oaklawn Park Feb. 6 for Peter Proscia's Paradise Farms and Dave Staudacher. Special Reserve earned a "Win and You're In" berth to this year's Breeders' Cup Sprint when he captured the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (G2) at Keeneland.

WATCH: Special Reserve Among Three for Maker in Breeders' Cup

Virtually no one claims a horse with the Breeders' Cup in mind, and if either C Z Rocket or Special Reserve succeeds in the Sprint, that horse will be the first U.S.-claimed horse to win that race. Cardmania captured the 1993 Sprint after being claimed earlier in his career in France for about $20,000. Reraise, the 1998 winner, and Amazombie , the 2011 winner, each ran for $62,500 during their careers, with no takers.

Though Amazombie wasn't claimed, his value at one point was far less than $62,500. As the story goes, trainer Bill Spawr was trying to buy another horse privately for $5,000, and because of a miscommunication, the seller threw in Amazombie too. Amazombie went on to earn nearly $2 million, and today he is one of the stars in retirement at Old Friends in Kentucky.

Miller, in the name of Altamira Racing Stable, and Kagele now own C Z Rocket in partnership with Madaket Stables and Gary Barber. Kagele had urged Miller to claim the son of City Zip . Since the claim, C Z Rocket has won four stakes and placed in five others, with total earnings of $1,491,641.

"He's special," said Miller. "'C Z's' right up there amongst the best claims we've ever made."

Miller gives Kagele credit for the claim.

"Tom picked him out, and I OK'd it," Miller said. "He was off form at the time, but you could tell that he had run some very fast races as a 3-year-old. We knew he had the talent if we could just get him back to form."

WATCH: Miller's Breeders' Cup Squad Let by C Z Rocket, Mo Forza

Kagele, who lives in Laverne, Calif., east of Santa Anita Park, first noticed C Z Rocket when the colt came out to Santa Anita for the 2017 Malibu Stakes (G1) after winning his first three races, at Saratoga Race Course, Keeneland, and Churchill Downs. Wide into the turn of the seven-furlong Malibu, C Z Rocket ran sixth behind winner City of Light  , who would go on to add the 2018 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

"I remember just taking a liking to C Z Rocket, and I started following him," said Kagele. "He ran some very good numbers and had tailed off. What we liked most about him was his back class and who he had run against, some real tough horses."

C Z Rocket, now a 7-year-old gelding, has proved he likes Del Mar, winning the 2020 Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2) and placing in this year's O'Brien and Bing Crosby Stakes (G1), all at that track. He also won back-to-back stakes earlier this year at Oaklawn Park, site of Miller's claim.

Two races before C Z Rocket won the March 13 Hot Springs Stakes at Oaklawn, Special Reserve made his first start for Maker after his Feb. 6 claim. The two geldings used very different tactics in their respective victories. C Z Rocket came from last to avenge his Breeders' Cup loss by defeating Whitmore by a neck. Special Reserve led throughout to score by two lengths in an allowance optional claimer. C Z Rocket completed six furlongs in 1:09.04, and Special Reserve ran the same distance in 1:09.39.

"We were very lucky to pick Special Reserve out," said Proscia. "It's a team effort. We do our homework and collaborate. We look at the numbers on the horses and the replays, and ultimately Mike and his team take a look at them visually before we claim the horses."

Since Special Reserve won that first race off the claim, he has been first or second in five stakes at four different tracks. In addition to the Phoenix, he scored in the Maryland Sprint Match Series Stakes (G3) at Pimlico Race Course and Iowa Sprint Stakes at Prairie Meadows, and he finished second in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga and Commonwealth Stakes (G3) at Keeneland.

"He's been a great horse—a heart of gold," said Maker. "One of his best assets is how well he leaves the gate."

Maker and Miller didn't have any illusions about getting a Breeders' Cup hopeful when they made their respective claims.

"With the lucrative purses over at Oaklawn, it made sense," said Maker. "We could claim him for $40,000, and in a worse-case scenario we could run back in the same race for the allowance conditions. Fortunately, it worked out. He won that race, and the rest is history."

In the case of C Z Rocket, Miller actually saved Kagele $60,000 because Kagele had originally urged Miller to claim the gelding one start before at $100,000. Miller didn't think C Z Rocket would win that race and told Kagele that he thought they would have an opportunity to claim him cheaper. Miller was right, and they dropped in the claim when C Z Rocket ran next time out for $40,000.

Both horses have bled in the past, and Maker and Miller said that managing the bleeding issues has helped as well.

C Z Rocket last year was Kagele's first Breeders' Cup starter, though Madaket and Barber have both had winners in other partnerships. Kagele also owns Miller-trained Proud Emma  with Gem, and that mare is entered in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1). Kagele's earlier runners include 2004 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner Southern Image , owned in partnership.

Special Reserve will be Proscia's first Breeders' Cup starter. Proscia and Staudacher, with other partners, earlier raced Aquaphobia , who won the 2020 United Nations Stakes (G1T) under Maker's tutelage.

Multiple grade 1 winner Jackie's Warrior  is the 6-5 morning-line favorite in this year's Sprint, and 4-1 second-choice Dr. Schivel  is undefeated in three starts over the Del Mar main track. Special Reserve, to be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., is listed as a 6-1 co-third choice, with Following Sea  also at 6-1, while C Z Rocket, with Florent Geroux aboard, is at 12-1 in the field of nine.

"I think we have a legitimate chance here," said Proscia. "I think the jock that we have is obviously one of the top in the country. We're the underdog, and I like to be the underdog."

Miller likes his chances also.

"He's doing really well," the trainer said. "He's really sharp and feeling good. He likes this track. So we're cautiously optimistic."

Additional reporting by Byron King.