John James ('JJ') Miller was born in Fremantle in 1933 to John (Snr) and Elsie, becoming the newest member of the Miller racing dynasty.
JJ left school at the age of 14, to become indentured to his father John (Snr.) who held a Trainers licence. JJ rode his first winner in 1947 after just six race rides. John (Snr.) also owned the local bakery in Palmyra and JJ was known to place wet hessian bags in the bread oven, creating a makeshift sauna to assist him in losing weight.
As a young jockey, JJ rode in Perth, Mauritius, Melbourne, Brisbane and Singapore, where he won the 1963 jockeys premiership. In 1964 JJ moved to Adelaide to ride for Bart Cummings and Colin Hayes, winning the 1965/66 Adelaide jockeys premiership. JJ took the ride on Ziema for Cummings in the 1965 Melbourne Cup finishing a close second to Light Fingers, another Cummings runner. JJ went one better the following year riding Gallilee to win both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups followed up by victory in the Sydney Cup later in that season. He also rode the great Tobin Bronze to win the Doncaster Handicap at Randwick in 1967.
He returned to Perth in 1970 where he won almost every major race on the Western Australian racing calendar, including a Railway Stakes, two Perth Cups and six Australian Derbies. JJ rode many winners for his wife Kay, who held an open class trainers licence.
JJ rode winners in every Australian state whilst also enjoying success in Singapore, Mauritius, England and Ireland. Not one to shy away from controversy, he often found himself in dispute with Stipendiary Stewards and spent extended periods of his career away from the track.
JJ retired from riding in 1988, riding more than 2200 winners during his 41 years in the saddle. He was granted a Trainer's licence in 1997, winning the 1999 Perth Cup with King of Saxony.