Racehorse Trainer, Karl Burke feels there’s no better place to live and work than in Yorkshire as he prepares for the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival which begins this Saturday 20th July.
Discussing his love for Yorkshire in an interview with Great British Racing, the 56-year-old said: “First and foremost it’s a beautiful place to live. I’ve always been somebody who wanted the workplace to be separate from the living place and here you get the best of both worlds – a great place to work in and a great place to live in.”
Burke is based at Spigot Lodge in Leyburn and has been there ever since he moved to Yorkshire from Newmarket back in 2001. One of the biggest wins of his career to date came at York Racecourse when Libertarian stormed to victory in the 2013 Dante Stakes at the huge price of 33/1.
As a day that still lives as Karl’s fondest memory of racing in Yorkshire, he said: “That was pretty special. At the time it was the first Yorkshire-trained winner in the race for 70 odd years, that was a great thrill.”
Discussing the Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival, Burke said: “It’s a great concept. A great advert for Yorkshire, advertising not only the tracks, but the trainers, the facilities that we’ve all got as well as Yorkshire in general.
“We’ve got a couple of horses that could be competitive in the two-year-old races during the festival – Seize The Time is a nice filly. Divinity will do very well, she’s already won at Ripon earlier this year and if there’s one of those Handicaps at Ripon and she turns up there, she’ll be very competitive.”
On the fixtures he’s most looking forward to during the festival, he said: “The obvious one is York. It’s a fantastic track, great facilities for Owners and Trainers and fantastic prize money. I equally enjoy those meetings at Thirsk and Ripon – They’re so close and that makes it a pleasure to go to.”
The Go Racing In Yorkshire Summer Festival takes place from Saturday 20th July – Sunday 28th July, featuring 10 race meetings across eight racecourses in Yorkshire:
- Saturday 20th July - Ripon
- Saturday 20th July (Evening) - Doncaster
- Sunday 21st July – Redcar
- Monday 22nd July (Evening) – Beverley
- Wednesday 24th July – Catterick
- Thursday 25th July (Evening) – Doncaster
- Friday 26th July - Thirsk
- Friday 26th July (Evening) – York
- Saturday 27th July – York
- Sunday 28th July – Pontefract
Go Racing In Yorkshire will also host an open afternoon at Jack Berry House in Malton on Tuesday 23rd July.