Preakness memories: Deputed Testamony boosted Catholic family’s racing business, teen jockey’s career

One of the most soggy and damp days in the history of the Preakness Stakes turned into one of the brightest and most glorious for a Harford County Catholic family and a 19-year-old Maryland jockey.

J. William “Bill” Boniface, owner of Bonita Farm in Harford County, pets one of his young horses in the training starter gate at the farm’s 5/8-mile track April 4.(Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Forty years ago, longshot Deputed Testamony helped put the Boniface family and their Darlington farm on the thoroughbred racing and breeding map.

Trained by J. William “Bill” Boniface and owned by the Boniface family and Francis P. Sears, Deputed Testamony skipped the Kentucky Derby, the first leg of the Triple Crown series, and then upset Derby-winning Sunny’s Halo at Pimlico Race Course May 21, 1983.

“It was a big deal,” said Boniface, 80, a parishioner of St. Ignatius in Hickory and former altar server at St. Margaret in Bel Air, of the Preakness victory. “It gave our farm and breeding operation national recognition and somewhat international recognition.

“When you think about it, it’s kind of astronomical odds,” said Boniface, who attended Towson Catholic High School before leaving to join the horse business full time at age 15. “To be the one to win the Preakness out of about 30,000 foals nationally is incredible.”

After a loss in the 1983 Belmont Stakes, Deputed Testamony earned two more Grade 1 stakes victories as a 4-year-old before being retired to stud because of an injury.

Deputed Testamony finished with 11 victories and three second-place finishes in 20 career starts. He earned $674,329 in purses and set a track record for the 1 1/16 distance at Pimlico that still stands.

Heralded for having never raced on any type of medications, he lived until 2012 to age 32 at Bonita Farm.

After winning the famous Woodlawn Vase, Deputed Testamony helped the Boniface family’s racing business take off as a full-service thoroughbred farm for breeding and training. He was syndicated for 40 shares for $5.2 million.

“We plowed all the money back into the farm,” Bill Boniface said.

Jockey Donald Miller Jr. won the 1983 Preakness aboard Deputed Testamony. (Courtesy Skip Ball Collection/Maryland Horse Library)

According to Bonita Farm’s history, Baltimore Evening Sun racing editor William Boniface and his wife, Mary Louise, built a home on a 40-acre farm outside of Bel Air. In the late 1970s and early 1980s William’s son, J. William (Bill), along with his wife, Joan, and five children, expanded the horse operation to more than 200 acres. After their Preakness victory, the Bonifaces sold the Bel Air property and moved to the 400-acre Bonita Farm in Darlington.

Bill Boniface called Deputed Testamony a “blue-collar horse,” the result of a “handshake” breeding deal. Deputed Testamony is still the last Maryland-bred horse to win the Preakness, although the Bonifaces came close with a second-place finish with Oliver’s Twist in 1995.

The 1983 Preakness victory was a fortuitous one in the career of a teenage jockey as well.

Donald Miller Jr., a high school student from Jessup, rode Deputed Testamony to the historic Triple Crown Series victory. The Colt went off at odds of 13-1 since he was paired in betting with stablemate Parfaitement, who was the more highly regarded of the two.

Miller, now a real estate executive and a parishioner of St. Mark in Catonsville, earned the mount after veteran jockey Herb McCauley chose to ride Parfaitement. The victory also put the up-and-coming rider on the map nationally.

“It wasn’t until years later that it dawned on me how big an impact that victory had,” said Miller, who served on the St. Mark parish council for several years. “It didn’t change much for me locally, but I was really surprised by the recognition I received around the country. That name recognition helped me get mounts in other states.”

Miller said his local knowledge played an important role in the victory since he knew after a hard rain that the inside path was the best spot at Pimlico. He said many nationally renowned jockeys in the race chose to take a path more in the middle of the track, thinking their horses would have better footing. It allowed Miller to guide Deputed Testamony along the rail to victory.

“It played a role,” Miller said of his local knowledge. “But the horse deserves most of the credit. He just ran a great race.”

Kevin Boniface saddles a horse for a morning exercise ride April 4 at Bonita Farm in Harford County.Bonita Farms, Harford County, Maryland, April 4, 2023. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Miller, now 60, started riding for his father, Donald Sr., a trainer, at the age of 17. He compiled 2,856 career victories and earned more than $37 million in purse winnings. He was one of the leading jockeys in Maryland for more than a decade and also rode regularly in Kentucky, Arkansas and Delaware.

He said it was special to be a part of an all-Maryland victory.

“It was very heartwarming to see the real pride and joy that came with the Maryland connections,” he said.

Miller, who retired from riding in 1996 due in part to hearing problems, said it was especially gratifying to win for the Boniface family.

“No one works harder than the Boniface family, and Bill was an eternal optimist so it was great to be a part of it,” he said.

Bill Boniface agreed with Miller that it was an incredible opportunity, winning one of the most prestigious races in the world with a colt that was the offspring of the Bonifaces’ unheralded stallion Traffic Cop and Sears’ broodmare Proof Requested.

“It was the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance,” said Boniface, who said he served in every role in the business from exercise rider to jockey and trainer.

A horse gets cooled down after training at Bonita Farms. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

He now serves as Bonita Farm’s general manager. His sons, Billy, Kevin and John, and daughter, Bonita, all are involved with the hands-on duties of the farm, directing breeding, foaling and racing operations.

Bill and his wife, Joan, were married at Immaculate Conception in Towson and sent all five of their children (daughter, Kim, died in 2020) to Catholic schools, including St. Margaret Elementary and John Carroll High School in Bel Air.

Bill Boniface said the family’s Catholic faith has always played a role in their business.

“We were all raised Catholic and still are faithful Catholics,” Bill Boniface said. “It shaped our character and imparted a sense of value that we use in our business.”

Bill Boniface said his father taught him an important thing at an early age about faith and horse racing.

“Never pray for a horse to win,” said Bill Boniface, who plans to watch this year’s Preakness, scheduled for May 20, at home to avoid the crowd.

Jockey Donald Miller Jr. is interviewed by Jim McKay, a Loyola Maryland graduate, after winning the 1983 Preakness Stakes. (Skip Ball Collection/Maryland Horse Library)

Did you know?

The Preakness is the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown Series, sandwiched between the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, on the third Saturday of each May at Pimlico Race Course in Northwest Baltimore.
The Triple Crown Series is more than 125 years old with only 13 horses accomplishing the feat of winning all three races – Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978), American Pharoh (2015) and Justify (2018).
The Preakness was first run May 27, 1873, for a purse of $2,050 with Survivor winning the 1 ½-mile race.
Early Voting won the 147th Preakness Stakes May 21, 2022, with a total purse of $1.65 million for the 1 3/16 race.
The 2022 Preakness drew more than 60,000 fans, but crowds have often been double that size before the pandemic for the event at “Old Hilltop” with revelers enjoying the unique festivities in Pimlico’s famed infield. In 2019, more than 131,000 attended.
The Preakness was named for the horse that won the Dinner Party Stakes in 1870, the first year Pimlico Race Course opened.
Secretariat holds the record for the 1 3/16 distance, winning the 1973 Preakness in 1 minute, 53 seconds.

– Source: Maryland Jockey Club

Email Gerry Jackson at gjackson@CatholicReview.org

To view more photos of the Boniface’s operation at Bonita Farms, click below: