"I'm really excited to get a chance to race him on the [Grand Circuit] this year....I think he's the kind of horse that will carry his speed on to age three. I look for him to have a really good year."
Sound familiar? A Ron Burke-trained horse that didn't race much against Grand Circuit horses at two, coming back at three and now staked to tackle the best in the division. It was JK Endofanera last year, could it be Yankee Bounty this year?
At 16-1, Yankee Bounty comes in at #7 in Trot Magazine's 2015 Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book. The third of three Burke trainees to crack the top 10, Yankee Bounty went 8-1-0 in ten starts last year competing primarily in the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes circuit. Trot Insider touched base with Burke for an update on the son of 2003 N.A. Cup winner Yankee Cruiser.
Where did he winter?
"He wintered in North Carolina and then he trained back at Gaitway Farms in New Jersey."
Where are you at with him right now?
"He trained 2:00 this week and he was excellent."
Have you noticed any changes from last year to this year?
"He's a small to medium-sized horse but a very muscular horse. He came back and looks just as good as he did last year. He didn't need to do much different. I'm happy with him."
When will he qualify and what's his early schedule looking like leading up to the Pepsi NA Cup?
"He should qualify next week, and he'll qualify at The Meadowlands. Then he'll go for a Sire Stake in Pennsylvania. He'll race down here and then come up for the North America Cup."
What is he staked to past the NA Cup?
"He's pretty much staked to everything we can pay him into; he's staked pretty well. I think he's got a real high upside and has shown flashes of brilliance, and could really step up."