On paper, trainer Ron Burke has a three-headed monster heading to Canada to compete for Canadian harness racing's most prestigious pacing prize.
But in reality, Louprint, Sippinonsearoc and Swingtown might not necessarily comprise the Hall of Fame trainer's top three pacing colts in a year where he's quick to admit that the 2024 two-year-old crop was by far his best.
"I don't even know who I consider my top three," said Burke in assessing his stellar sophomore set that includes the aforementioned TROT Magazine Pepsi North America Cup Spring Book picks, but also Railroad Station, Papis Pistol and Rick Wink.
Atop the trifecta for the purposes of the Spring Book at 3-1 odds is 2024 Dan Patch Award winner Louprint, who hit the board in all 10 of his two-year-old races, winning seven and earning a division-best $1.01 million for breeders/owners Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown, Pa., Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, Pa. and Phil Collura of Mountain Top, Pa. Larry Karr joined the ownership group in April. The son of Sweet Lou - Rockin Racer, driven by Ronnie Wrenn Jr., was a Breeders Crown and Kentucky Sire Stakes champion and became the first two-year-old male in history to pace four miles in 1:49.1 or faster, with a mark of 1:48.4.
Right behind Louprint in the Spring Book at 5-1 odds is stablemate Sippinonsearoc, the fastest two-year-old male pacer in harness racing history by virtue of his 1:48.2 world record taken in Lexington. The son of Downbytheseaside - Queen Ann M is trained by Burke for Burke Racing Stable LLC of Fredericktown, Pa., Weaver Bruscemi LLC of Canonsburg, Pa., R A S Racing LLC of Powell, Oh. and Knox Services Inc. of Mt Vernon, Oh. He banked $779,082 last year with a 6-2-1 summary from 11 his starts.
Owned by Burke Racing Stable LLC of Pennsylvania and Hatfield Stables, Knox Services Inc. and R A S Racing LLC, Swingtown is slotted in as the 12-1 sixth choice in the Spring Book. The son of Downbytheseaside - Swinging Beauty took his mark of 1:50.1 in his Breeders Crown elim, one of six wins during his $653,202-earning freshman season.
After qualifying twice each, these three colts will all start on the Road to the Pepsi North America Cup this weekend with first seasonal starts slated for Saturday, May 3. Swingtown (PP2, Brett Miller, 5-2) and Sippinonsearoc (PP5, Chris Page, 5-2) face each other in a nine-horse field that will compete for the $75,000 USD James Hackett Memorial for Ohio-sired three-year-old male pacers at Miami Valley Raceway. Louprint (PP8, Ronnie Wrenn, Jr., 2-1) is entered in the opening leg of the Pennsylvania Sire Stakes at The Meadows.
TROT Insider caught up with Burke for an update on this talented trio.
Where did these three colts winter and when did they start back in training?
"They all went to Chris Coyle's [Olive Branch Farm in North Carolina] and started back on the 15th of January."
Any notable changes, either physically or mentally?
"They were all pretty good looking horses. Maybe Louprint got a little heavier. All three are definitely sounder."
Talk about their early stakes schedules.
"The two Ohio colts have Sire Stakes [on May 17 at Northfield] and then they'll go [to the North America Cup elims] from there.
"Louprint goes May 3rd to The Meadows and then May 17th [at Pocono] and the 25th [at Harrah's Philadelphia]."
And then after the North America Cup, I take there are many options for these colts?
"That's one thing me and Mark [Weaver] talked about, you do have to treat them as an individual to be fair to everybody and not treat them as a stable. You pretty much have to look at each horse and do what you think that horse is capable for at that time."
Define what makes each of these horses as good as they are.
"Louprint is just a perfect animal. He does nothing wrong. Swingtown is just super fast. And Sippinonsearoc just wants to win."
At what point last year did you think these three colts showed you that you might be looking at North America Cup level competitors?
"Both Swingtown and Louprint we said all along were the best two colts we had in a while. And then the other colt actually kind of caught us off guard. The first time we ever put him on a bike was at the farm up here in Pennsylvania, and he basically went three seconds faster than we'd ever trained the colts at the farm before. And then when he went in 1:48 at Lexington, we said we have three of these colts that are really for real.
As someone who's won this race before, how does it feel to not only have one serious contender for the Pepsi North America Cup but, at least on paper, three?
"It's cool. It's a great night with great racing, and I'm excited and ready to go. It's fun now — I'm talking to you, we're making decisions about where you're entering them and stuff like that...it's like, now you know it's time."
(Standardbred Canada)