Hall of Fame trainer Ron Burke surpassed the $300 million USD mark in career earnings on Saturday afternoon (May 6).
The 53-year-old resident of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania is the only North American trainer or driver to ever reach that level.
In 2022, Burke wrapped up his 14th consecutive year as harness racing’s leading trainer for both wins and purses. The top trainer on the Grand Circuit earned more than 1,000 wins for a record fourth time over the last decade.
In 2013, Burke became the first harness racing trainer to surpass $20 million USD in purses in a single year and he's topped that mark every year since except for the pandemic-impacted 2020 when the stable earned “only” $17,544,468 USD.
He posted a record high 1,093 wins and $28,414,071 USD in purses in 2014.
Burke has been associated with an extensive list of champions, including the highest earning Standardbred of all time, Foiled Again, who earned $7,635,588 USD, and triple millionaires Sweet Lou, Atlanta and Hannelore Hanover.
Burke is a three-time winner of the U.S. Trainer of the Year Award (2011, 2013 and 2018) selected by the United States Harness Writers Association and was inducted into the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2022.
Lifetime, he has won 13,668 races.
(With files from USTA and U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame)