Olympic and world champion skier Bode Miller has gotten into horse racing with part ownership in his first horse.
Miller plans to be at Santa Anita to watch Carving run Saturday in the $250,000 FrontRunner Stakes. The 2-year-old is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert and owned by his wife, Jill. The couple are friends with Miller and named their 7-year-old son, Bode, after him.
Carving is undefeated in his first two career starts. He will be ridden Saturday by Martin Garcia.
Baffert said Miller initially told him he was interested in buying a horse for $50,000 to $60,000. The trainer said he looked but couldn't find anything at that price range and kept searching. Eventually, he found Carving, and they bought him for $55,000.
''He's not a big horse, and when we got him at Del Mar, Bode said, `Boy, he's not very big,' and I said, `Well, what do you expect for $55,000?' '' Baffert said, adding that Miller got excited after the horse won its first two races.
''I told him it's not this easy and he's going to be stepping it up (in the FrontRunner),'' the trainer added.
Miller recently tweeted that he is engaged to professional volleyball player Morgan Beck.
