$28.52 million and climbing – Burke sets new earnings record

Hightstown, NJ – Ron Burke, harness racing’s all-time leader in training wins and purses, on Thursday broke the record for trainer earnings in a single season when he ended the day with $28.52 million, bettering the old mark of $28.41 million, which he set in 2014.

Burke has now exceeded $20 million in purses 12 times in 13 years (his only miss during that span came during the pandemic-impacted 2020 season). No other trainer has ever reached $13.4 million.

For his career, Burke has won 16,343 races and $374 million in purses.

He became the first trainer or driver to reach $300 million in North American purses in harness racing history in 2023. Only two other trainers, Jimmy Takter ($130 million) and Erv Miller ($116 million), have reached $100 million since the inception of official trainer stats in 1991.

Burke’s career win total is more than 8,400 ahead of No. 2 Virgil Morgan Jr. (7,878) on the trainer’s list.

He was inducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame in 2022.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA