PETER MILLER, Hove’s longest-ever serving racing manager since the track opened in 1928, presided at his final race meeting at Hove in December, 2017, before he made an imminent transfer to Central Park to take up his newly-created appointment as Director of Racing.

Miller, whose family is steeped in greyhound racing history – his late father George handled the 1995 All England Cup winner Just Right Jumbo and sister Wendy was a former trainer at Sunderland - succeeded the retiring Jim Layton as RM at Hove in April, 1994.

In January, 1995, the government allowed greyhound racing to operate full betting facilities on Sundays and track promoters exploited a welcome change in legislation – this was a significant change to the landscape in Miller’s 23-year tenure at Hove.

Following the inception of the British Greyhound Racing Board Annual Awards in 1999, Hove were unchallenged and won on an annual basis the Southern Racecourse of the Year award. – this culminated in 2001 by Hove collecting the BGRB Racecourse of the Year.

PETER MILLER (far right): The former Hove racing manager was at the helm between 1994-2017.

Miller, who began his career in the early-1980s in the racing office at Ramsgate, was one of the youngest racing managers in the history of the sport at the tender age of 18 at Oxford before subsequent spells at Wembley, Powderhall and Romford.

“Hove has been a fantastic track to work at for the past 23 years, and there has been a collection of highlights and changes during my tenure at the track,” said Miller yesterday. “Obviously winning back-to-back Supertrack titles in the mid-1990s versus Bristol and Romford at Wembley was very special.”

Miller’s tenure at Hove has coincided with several key milestones, including the installation of a new Swaffham hare system, the extension of a busy weekly racing schedule, the advent of Formnet, the growth of betting on the internet and extensive TV coverage around the globe.

“Things always move on for everyone, and I’m now looking forward to a new challenge at Central Park,” said Miller prior to his departure from Hove. “However, I will always remember a happy period of my life at Hove.”

Written by Patrick Kelly