Profile
Name:
Karl Richard Burke
Occupation:
Racehorse Trainer
How long have you been training for:
17 Years
First winner trained:
Temporale winner of 2mile handicap hurdle ridden by Robbie Supple at Towcester
Biggest win so far:
Lord Shanakill winner of Mill Reef Stakes Group 2. Most valuable race won was John Smiths Magnet cup.
Favourite Horse of all time:
Daring Destiny or Kildimo
Best horse you have trained:
Lord Shanakill
Favourite racetrack/meeting:
York & Goodwood
Best moment in racing:
Winning the Group 2 Golden Pletche at Baden Baden or winning 1st Ayr Gold Cup.
Ambitions:
Keep training winners & win a classic!
Who has the most influence on your training career:
My Family
If you could change anything in racing what would it be:
Less racing and more prize money
If you hadn’t taken up training what would you be doing now:
Living abroad somewhere near a beach.
Karl Burke
Working his way to the very top
Karl was born over the Black Swan pub in Rugby and later moved across town to the Red Lion which his father ran for sixteen years. During his time at the Red Lion Karl gained his first interest in racing through watching it with his dad. At school Karl met Elaine Jarvis, daughter of trainer Alan. They later married and had two girls Kelly and Lucy.
Karl rode his first winner for Alan Jarvis in an apprentice race at Hamilton on The Britisher. Always likely to be too heavy for the Flat he switched codes to jump racing, and went on to gain 50 winners from 750 rides. The first being Bloemfontein for M Chapman at Newton Abbot.
Karl's career in racing took a new direction as his interests turned to training. Karl and Elaine set up a livery and pre-training yard in Newark where they broke young stock in. It was here they started training a small string of both flat and jump horses. The family then moved to Broadway near Cheltenham where they rented a yard, with much more space, from Michael Berrow the manager of pop group Duran Duran.
As the string of horses increased Karl made the decision to move to Ginge in 1990 where he enjoyed further success with horses such as Philistar and Daring Destiny winner of the Ayr Gold Cup, a Group 2 in Germany and a Group 3 in Ireland.
Karl’s profile as a trainer continued to grow and in 1998 he moved to High Havens Stables on Hamilton Road in Newmarket. In 2000 Karl and his family bought Spigot Lodge in idyllic North Yorkshire.
Spigot Lodge is ideally situated between the famous Middleham High and Low moor gallops and is steeped in racing history. Karl has now trained here for over eight years and last season enjoyed the biggest win of his career when Lord Shanakill won the Group 2 Mill Reef stakes at Newbury (G2) before being beaten by only a short head in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.