Joe Burke ready for first Big M drive

Joe Burke has driven in numerous amateur races over the past 20 years, but his starts Friday will be a little different. For the first time, Burke will drive at The Meadowlands.

The 44-year-old Maine resident, who with his father Omer “Buddy” Burke launched the Maine Amateur Driving Club nearly two decades ago, will compete in two of the four GSY Series races on Friday’s Big M card. The slate includes a Pro-Am event when five GSY members will be joined on the track by Corey Callahan, Dexter Dunn, Vinnie Ginsburg, Andy McCarthy, and Scott Zeron.

Burke began driving at the Maine fairs when he was 18 and got his first taste of amateur racing six years later when the Billings Series visited Bangor Raceway. Burke won his first try with a trotter trained by his dad. The experience led to the Burkes eventually starting their local amateur driving group.

“I decided when I was young that I’d be better off just to do it for fun,” Burke said about driving. “My dad always had horses and he would let me drive one or two a few times a year. It’s kind of snowballed more lately. As I got older, I bought some of my own and I’d race in the amateur races with them.

“This year, the First Tracks Cumberland people really wanted to do the amateur racing. They were really good about having one every week and it’s taken off pretty well. I think we’ve had an average of two or three races a week now since mid-summer.”

In July, Burke won the Maine Amateur Driving Club championship for Cumberland’s spring/summer meet. For the year, he has won five times. Lifetime, he has 33 victories.

Burke started going to the barn around the age of 7 to help his father with his small stable. Buddy Burke, who passed away in March, owned a lunch truck that catered to factories and local businesses. When he was finished for the day, he would work with his horses while Joe cleaned stalls and did other chores around the stable.

“I’ve been doing it for quite a few years and it’s never dull,” Burke said. “You never get bored with it. There is always a challenge.

“I like working with the horses more, really. The driving part is fun because it’s the reward of doing your work all week, especially if you have a horse that might be having some type of trouble. I’m a construction manager, I have an engineering degree, so I kind of like the dynamic of how the horse works and how to make it work better.

“I do enjoy the competitiveness of the driving and being on the track. There is really no better feeling than taking a horse, working with it all week, and coming up with a perfect trip and getting a win. That’s just the icing on the cake.”

On Friday morning, Burke will make the 330-mile journey to The Meadowlands with his horses Meetmeatthedance and Plus One. They are the only two horses he owns at the moment. Both are trained by Robert Marston.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and I have the opportunity now,” Burke said about racing at The Meadowlands. “I might as well take them down there and give it a shot.”

The four GSY Series events on the 14-race card are races three, five, seven, and nine. The seventh is the Pro-Am, which features the aforementioned pros driving the five horses with the lowest TrackMaster ratings in the field. Post positions were assigned based on the TrackMaster ratings.

The amateur drivers in the race are Tony Beltrami, Bob Hechkoff, Joe Lee, Jacob Stillwell, and Todd Whitney.

“We started talking about the idea with The Meadowlands a week ago,” said David Glasser, a GSY Series officer and participant. “The goal of our club is to put on full-field races for The Meadowlands and to make the races fair and competitive for the horsemen and good betting races for the track. We try to be innovative, and we’ve been getting good handle.

“We’ve been building the club for many years and really never expected it to develop as it has. We had 51 entries (this week). It’s the most entries we’ve ever had. It’s been a wonderful surprise.”

Racing at The Meadowlands begins at 6:20 p.m. (EST). Free full-card TrackMaster past performances for The Meadowlands are available by visiting the track’s website here<www.thebigm.com/content.aspx?id=3357>.

by Ken Weingartner, for the USTA