Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi – the ownership group of Mark Weaver, Mike Bruscemi and Sylvia Burke – did well in Dan Patch Awards announced earlier in the week by the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA), and now they have established a breeding operation, largely of former racehorse stars, which has risen enough to be honoured with Dan Patch Breeders Awards.
Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi themselves bred the winners of $6,555,777 USD in 2025, ranking fifth among all breeders with only 74 starters – quite a rapid growth – and as usual, often combining with partners such as Phil Collura, Lawrence Karr and J&T Silva - Purnel & Libby, they appear on the breeding records of such stars as Louprint, Loua Dipa, Al Papi, Looksgoodinloulou and Melillo. This racetrack success earned Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi the Dan Patch Breeder of the Year Award.
Three of the five horses mentioned above have the word “Lou” in their name, which gives a fairly good indication why Sweet Lou was voted Pacing Sire of the Year in 2025, after dead-heating with Bettors Delight for the honour last year and winning outright at his gait in the inaugural 2023 awards. A son of Yankee Cruiser out of Sweet Future bred by Birnam Wood Farms, Sweet Lou was purchased by Burke Racing Stable, Weaver Bruscemi, Collura and Karr, was a champion racehorse earning nearly $3.5 million USD, and now is under the stewardship of the Sweet Lou Syndicate. Sweet Lou is a “dual-hemisphere” stallion, standing in the United States at Diamond Creek Farm in Pennsylvania and also going to New Zealand for duty at Woodlands Stud.
In 2025, at press time, Sweet Lou led all stallions on the all-age money-winning list with almost $18.4 million USD. He was also second on the two-year-old list and fourth in the three-year-old rankings. Louprint and Loua Dipa, as mentioned, are offspring of his who are favoured to win their division’s Dan Patch Awards (to be announced on Sunday).
Chapter Seven also repeated his 2024 Trotting Sire of the Year success. A son of Windsongs Legacy-La Riviera Lindy bred by Richard Banca, he was originally purchased by Gary Cocco and Richard Gutnick, who joined with Southwind Farms and J&T Silva Stables as owners until he was syndicated for stud under Chapter Seven Syndicate. He now stands at Blue Chip Farms.
For the second straight year, Chapter Seven posted a clean sweep of the major money titles for trotting sires, with his all-age earnings at $14.2 million USD tops and also leading the two-year-old ($4.5 million USD) and three-year-old ($6.6 million USD) ranks. His sophomore Super Chapter won $1,236,099 USD and the Yonkers Trot, Earl Beal Memorial and Empire Breeders Classic, and his two-year-old Spencer Hanover was successful in both his Breeders Crown elimination and championship.
The Pacing Broodmare of the Year, Looksgoodinaromper, is another success for the Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi crew. A daughter of Pet Rock-Dont Blame Me bred by Robert and Barbara Bongiorno, she was acquired by Burke Racing Stable and Weaver Bruscemi early in her two-year-old season and for them won her Ohio Sire Stakes Championship that year.
In 2025, two female offspring of Looksgoodinaromper performed strongly to help her earn the title: divisional championship contender Loua Dipa ($827,028 USD) and Kentucky program champion Looksgoodinloulou ($381,262 USD in 2025). No extra points for guessing who their sire was.
The Trotting Broodmare of the Year, Mission Brief, is a daughter of Muscle Hill-Southwind Serena. She was bred by Steve Stewart, Black Creek Farm and Andrea Lea Racing Stables Inc., and was purchased before her broodmare career by Mission Brief Syndicate, of which Stewart is corresponding officer. In her racing career, Mission Brief showed tremendous speed and courage while earning $1,599,587 USD. (And yes, she was campaigned by the "Burke Brigade" in her two years of racing.)
In 2025, Mission Brief gave us Apex (sired by Walner), a highly-regarded freshman colt who earned $871,798 USD, won the Mohawk Million and is the early line favourite for his own Dan Patch Award. Two other stakes winners out of Mission Brief were Kadena (who sold for $1.2 million USD last month) and Vic Zelenskyy.
The award winners listed above will be recognized at the 2026 Dan Patch Awards Banquet, presented by Caesars Entertainment, which will honour the best of harness racing, both human and equine. The banquet will be held on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando, Florida.
(With files from USHWA; photo of Mark Weaver and Mike Bruscemi with Burke Racing Stable's trainer Ron Burke)