Plainridge Park: Burke Brigade well-represented on Spirit day in Massachusetts

Hall of Fame trainer Ron Burke will be heading east to Massachusetts on Sunday (July 23) with members of the "Burke Brigade" who will start in the $250,000 Spirit of Massachusetts Trot and $100,000 Clara Barton Distaff Pace as the Grand Circuit makes its third stop of the year at Plainridge Park. Post time for the first race is 2 p.m.

Burke will start the lone millionaire It’s Academic along with his stablemate Hillexotic in the Spirit of Massachusetts and near millionaire Drama Act in the Clara Barton.

It’s Academic is a longtime member of Burke’s stable and is by far the biggest money-earner entered in the Spirit this year. He is also a very high percentage horse, hitting the board 75% of the time, including his 26 wins.

“We’ve had It’s Academic his whole life except for a few starts in Canada. And although he’s been solid right along, it seems like at the end of last year he went from being a very good horse to a great horse. Right now I think he’s as good as any aged trotter in the country,” said Burke.

“The nine hole is going to be a test for him because he’s going to have to leave into a lot of early speed. I feel there are quite a few horses that are going to go forward in there, trying to get position.”

It's Academic finished second in the Spirit last year to Alrajah One It and is looking to have a different outcome this year. Earlier this year on May 14, It’s Academic set an early-season mark when he trotted in 1:51 2/5 at Harrah’s Philadelphia, which at the time was the fastest trotting mile over any 5/8-mile track in North America.

Burke obtained Hillexotic in April of 2022 and the trotter has been a rock-solid campaigner ever since. And as many trotters do, he appears to be improving with age.

“Hillexotic seems to get a little better every year. He possesses extreme gate speed, so he puts himself in a place where he can control the race most of the time, and I’m sure that’s what Yannick will be looking to do this week,” said Burke.

“He’s really been good lately, too. His first couple of starts this year he was a little off and we found out he was running a low grade fever. We got him over that and ever since then he’s been really excellent.”

The 6-year-old Hillexotic comes into this race winning three out of his last four starts, including a victory in the Maxie Lee Memorial at Harrah’s Philadelphia on May 28 when he went in 1:50 2/5 to establish a new world-record for an aged gelding trotter (older than age 4) and equaled the fastest trotting mile ever at Harrah's Philadelphia with the new lifetime mark.

“We actually trained Hillexotic and It’s Academic together this week because I figured they’d both get in and they went in 1:52 and a piece at Gaitway Farm, which is the most we’ve ever trained trotters at Gaitway. They both couldn’t have gone any better, I was thrilled with them. We didn’t go out intending to go quite that much but they did it so easy, we ended up having our own pre-Spirit of Massachusetts Trot ourselves,” said Burke.

Currently It’s Academic and Hillexotic both hold seasonal marks of 1:50 2/5, placing them tied for the second fastest trotting mile of the year in North America behind Venerate (1:50 1/5). Burke is looking for his first Spirit of Massachusetts Trot win.

Turning to the Barton, Burke’s entry Drama Act is another horse he bought late in her 3-year-old season and turned into a win machine. In her first 15 months in the Burke stable, Drama Act won 16 races. In 2022 she won three legs and the final of the $381,000 Blue Chip Matchmaker series at Yonkers Raceway and races regularly at the Hilltop against the toughest mares around. She comes into the Barton just $8,652 shy of $1 million in lifetime earnings and reaching that goal this week is a priority for Burke.

“Drama Act is just a sweet horse, she does everything you could ask of her. You couldn’t have a nicer horse to train. She was actually getting good when I got her, but (driver) Chris Page taught her a lot early on. She was supposedly hot and hard to drive, but Chris had a lot of patience and taught her to be a good horse to where now, you can use her either way and that makes such a big difference when you’re in against the top horses. You’ve got to be able to leave if you want to leave and duck when you need to duck,” said Burke.

“She races at Yonkers regularly and I think she enjoys going to a five-eighth’s mile track because she gets to stretch out a bit. We took her to Philly in June and she won handily in 1:50. This five-horse field at Plainridge is going to be a cool little race. I think Mikala is probably a little bit better than everybody else, but I don’t think she’s an unbeatable better than everybody else.”

Burke said it will be the first time David Miller will be driving but pointed out that Miller first-time, picks horses up. He also said the way Miller can make horses go is a little bit different tactically and he's actually excited to see what he can do with this horse.

“This is really her biggest race of the year so It’s an important race for her and we’re going to go all out here. She can go over a million dollars in earnings Sunday and that’s been one of my goals with her because we’ll probably be breeding her next year to produce more like her. It’s a big deal to me and she deserves it,” Burke concluded.

Burke also entered $1.1 million winner Workin Ona Mystery in the $75,000 Bert Beckwith Memorial Invitational Pace, which is featured on a very strong undercard on Spirit Sunday.

Gates for Spirit of Massachusetts Day open at 1 p.m. on Sunday (July 23) and the afternoon will feature an array of activities.

Owners, trainers and their connections of horses racing in the stakes will be treated to a welcome luncheon in the Boylston Room, upstairs in the grandstand. Guests will be able to get a free Plainridge Park commemorative 25th anniversary hat compliments of Plainridge Park Casino and the Harness Horseman’s Association of New England.

-edited release (Tim Bojarski for Plainridge Park)