Miller seeks Cary Grant Stakes three-peat with Solid Wager plus two

Trainer Peter Miller is quite sure that he has never before won the same stakes race with the same horse three years in a row.

“I don’t think I’ve ever won three games of tic-tac-toe in a row before, so that would be something,” Miller said.

Miller, the defending meet champion and current training standings leader, will be plotting the strategic X’s and O’s not only for Solid Wager, the Cary Grant Stakes winner the past two seasons, but also for two others Sunday when the $100,000 seven-furlong sprint for California-breds, formerly the On Trust Stakes, is run for the 34th time overall and the fourth at Del Mar.

The wins by Solid Wager, a six-year-old gelded son of Birdonthewire owned by Cecil and Gary Barber and Stanford Stable, were both accomplished coming from behind and by a half-length at the wire. Joe Talamo was in the saddle in 2015, Victor Espinoza in 2016 and Espinoza retains the mount.

Miller readily conceded that, twice being nice, the Grant was a major target when mapping out a 2017 campaign for Solid Wager which has yet to produce a win in seven starts.

“Absolutely, we know he likes this track and he likes seven-eighths of a mile, so this was definitely one we’ve pointed to,” Miller said. “He’s a horse with a late kick and sometimes it’s hard for him to get there in time at a shorter distance. But seven-eighths seems to work out very well for him.”

If there’s safety in numbers, Miller has it for the Grant since, in addition to Solid Wager, he has also entered Prime Issue and California Diamond. Prime Issue, a seven-year-old son of Tannersmyman, has four wins in 10 career starts at Del Mar and recorded one of his two 2017 victories here during the summer meeting. California Diamond, a three-year-old son of Harbor The Gold, has five wins in 13 career starts but none since November of last year. He was second in the 2016 Bob Hope but did not race here in the summer.

“Prime Issue has a lot of speed and California Diamond, who we’ve tried on turf the last two times, is probably better on the dirt,” Miller said. “They’ve all three been training here and training well, so hopefully one can get the job done.”