The Boniface family is as iconic in Maryland racing as Pimlico itself. From Fritz Boniface’s stagecoach across England to Bonita Farm in Harford County, their association with horses is as integral to their history as it is to the state they call home. It is no surprise then that the last native bred horse to win the Preakness, Deputed Testamony, is also Boniface through and through.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Deputed Testamony is a misspelled mess,” the Sun’s sports editor Bob Maisel said after the 1983 Preakness. “Old Bill is a great fellow, but that sonofagun never could spell.” 

Co-owner Sears, though, made the errant spelling sound more deliberate: “You’ve heard of a testament, of course, as in the New or Old Testament,” the financier shared. “But we decided to make it testamony with an ‘a’ because it sounds better.”

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With his name decided, the Traffic Cop colt spent much of his time where Bill Boniface, Jr., primarily housed his horse, Bonita Farm. Deputed Testamony debuted at Bowie in September 1982 and then made the rounds of Mid-Atlantic racetracks, winning at Keystone, the Meadowlands, and Laurel Park. He rounded out his two-year-old season with a victory in the Play the Palace Stakes at the Meadowlands, setting a stakes record for a mile and giving Boniface ideas. 

Dream Season

The barn started with two Triple Crown hopefuls in 1983, Deputed Testamony and Parfaitement, owned by Black Gates Stable. After a win in the Federico Tesio at Pimlico, the son of Traffic Cop inserted himself into the conversation for the Kentucky Derby, but a fever and a sixth-place finish in the Bluegrass derailed his plans for the first Saturday in May. Instead, Boniface sent Parfaitement, second in that year’s Wood Memorial, and the stable’s primary jockey Herb McCauley to Louisville, where they finished sixteenth. 

When it came time for the Preakness two weeks later, McCauley was faced with a choice. Boniface entered both colts for Maryland’s signature stakes and the jockey could stay with Deputed Testamony, who he had ridden in the Tesio, or stay on Parfaitement. He chose the latter, leaving Boniface without a rider for the home team’s horse. Enter Donnie Miller, Jr.

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Son of former jockey and trainer Donnie Miller, Sr., the younger Miller got his start in the saddle exercising horses for his dad in his teenage years and then took out his license to ride in 1980 at age seventeen. He rose quickly through the ranks, topping the list of apprentice jockeys in 1981 with 296 wins and winning multiple meet titles at Pimlico, Bowie, and Laurel. When it came time to decide who should ride Deputed Testamony in the 1983 Preakness, Donnie Miller, Jr., was the name that came to mind. 

“What’s interesting is that old man Boniface, the editor for the Sun, was very instrumental in getting me on the horse for the Preakness,” Miller remembered. 

The young jockey had ridden Deputed Testamony twice the previous year, including a near-miss second in the inaugural Maryland Juvenile Championship, so he was familiar with the colt and with the Bonifaces, for whom he rode occasionally. 

With McCauley on Parfaitement and Miller on Deputed Testamony, the Boniface entry was ready for the state’s biggest stakes race, but the focus was not on the home team. The coupled  entry was 14-1 at post time, and had Deputed been a betting interest on his own, he would have been much higher.

Rather, with Kentucky Derby winner Sunny’s Halo looking to collect his second classic, the pressure was off, which freed the native son and his local jockey to enjoy the big moment. 

A Lifetime of Memories 

“Riding a horse that was not a favorite, there was no pressure on me,” Miller remembered. “I looked at it like, if he ran great, I looked like a genius. If he runs bad, well, he didn’t have much of a chance. Anyway, that’s good.”

Additionally, the local boy had a leg-up on the out-of-towners when a torrential downpour soaked Pimlico ahead of the race. 

“Most all the local jockeys knew that when it rained, the inside rail was like gold. So, if you could get to the inside rail, you were a winner,” the former jockey shared.

Indeed, starting from post 3, Miller and Deputed Testamony, racing with mud caulks, stalked the early leaders Desert Wine and stablemate Parfaitement until the six-furlong mark, then rallied along the rail to pass Desert Wine. They took the lead in the final furlong of the 1 3/16-mile Preakness and drew away quickly to win by 2 ¾ lengths. 

“This day, I was as close to the rail as I could without engaging in those washed-out areas, obviously for the safety of the horse and myself,” Miller said. “Most of the guys in the race stayed way out instead of being down near the rail, and I knew that that [the rail] was the absolutely best place to be.”

In Maryland’s most famous stakes races at historic Pimlico, a thoroughly Maryland breeder, co-owner, trainer, and jockey celebrated their win with the colt who remains the most recent Maryland-bred horse to win the Preakness. In the slop, the Bonifaces cheered their win, which sent Bonita Farm to another level as Traffic Cop’s stock rose. 

For Miller, the victory resonates still today. “It’s fascinating to be part of history and know that the horse I rode is on the glass every year,” the former jockey-turned real estate agent shared. 

“[People] would say, ‘Oh my god, you’re that jockey,’ or ‘Oh, I know you, I know you, you’re Donnie Miller.’ That happened for years, and it always stunned me,” he recalled. “That people remembered something at that point, more than 16 years prior. That was fascinating.”

Deputed Testamony followed his Preakness win with a sixth-place finish in the Belmont Stakes three weeks later, where Miller realized that the colt’s distance limit was likely 1 ¼ miles, short of that classic’s distance. The son of Traffic Cop would win twice more that year, including the Haskell at Monmouth Park, and then score two victories in his two starts at four. 

In the second of those wins, the City of Baltimore Handicap, Deputed Testamony set a Pimlico track record for 1 1/16 miles that stands to this day. However, he came out of that win with an injury and was retired to stud at Bonita Farm. 

[VIDEO: Deputed Testamony’s Preakness]

A Classic Legacy

In his twenty crops for the Bonifaces, Deputed Testamony sired 425 named foals, with 268 winners and 21 stakes winners. He later became the damsire of Bellamy Road, 2005 Wood Memorial victor and favorite for that year’s Kentucky Derby, won by Giacomo. The 1983 Preakness winner lived out his days at Bonita Farm, passing away at age 32 in 2012. 

Forty years after his win on Deputed Testamony, Donnie Miller remembers the horse as “easy to ride. He knew what his job was.” 

“He was so professional, but many of the horses that are at those levels, are very professional anyway,” the onetime rider said. “They know they’re supposed to win, and they’re supposed to cooperate with the short guy on their back and get the guidance from them.”