The trainer will contest Canada’s top harness race with Louprint and Swingtown.

by Debbie Little

With the Meadowlands Pace only a month away, trainer Ron Burke looks to be in a good spot to capture The Big M’s signature race for the very first time.

“I’ve got good 3-year-olds this year; my 3-year-old colt pacers are solid,” he said.

One of the two that Burke has eligible for this year’s Pace is Louprint, the 7-5 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s (June 14) 42^nd edition of the $1 million Pepsi North America Cup at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

Burke sent a total of three colts — Louprint, Sippinonsearoc, and Swingtown — north of the border last week for the Cup eliminations, with both Louprint and Swingtown making the final.

“Louprint was perfect, everything went well,” Burke said. “I thought [David Miller’s] horse [Prince Hal Hanover] was really good, too, maybe even shockingly good, that David was to be able to back him out of a hole and get him going.

“I don’t think Ronnie [Wrenn, Jr. driving Louprint] expected that he could get him going that fast. But I asked Ronnie, ‘Were you done?’ And he said ‘No,’ but he said, ‘David wasn’t either.’ So, I think both of those were really good.”

Following the race, Mohawk’s TV co-hosts, John Rallis and Randy Waples, were saying that Wrenn might have been a little surprised when he saw Miller coming up on his outside.

“Ronnie would say that he was surprised that David could get him backed out and already up that fast,” Burke said. “I think [Wrenn] knew as soon as he called on [Louprint], he would start digging. And he did, because if you watch the pace-out, [Prince Hal Hanover] doesn’t pace by him at any point.

“I think gamblers should really pay attention to that; you can see a lot in the pace-out. You can see who actually was tired at the wire and which horses weren’t tired at the wire. I’m telling you, we pay attention as much to that as we do to the finish, like what they look like after the wire. It tells you who’s fake finishing with pace and who’s really finishing with pace.”

Burke said Swingtown, who finished third in the first North America Cup elim, also raced well.

“He was one of the few ones that got stretched leaving and was around at the finish, so I was happy with that. I think he can be a little sharper.”

Burke was also happy with Swingtown drawing post 7 for the final.

“It’s a good post because he has options,” Burke said.

In regard to Sippinonsearoc, who finished sixth in the second Cup elimination, were it not for some bad racing luck, all three of Burke’s colts might have made the final.

“His tire was flat from the half on,” Burke said of Sippinonsearoc. “Timmy [Tetrick driving Fallout] got on his tire at the quarter and then it popped at the half, so, yeah, I really wasn’t that surprised [that he didn’t make the final].”

As far as his Cup competition, Burke said, “The horse that won the second division [Lite Up The World], people are a little bit enamored with the time. That’s a good horse, but also that was the race they got to the half in :53. If you want to go in [1]:48, you got to get to the half fast. I thought it was a solid bunch of horses and I still think it is a solid bunch of horses.”

Burke, who is looking for his second North America Cup victory, having won it in 2014 with JK Endofanera, couldn’t have spoken better about Louprint, who will start from post 4, the winningest post in Cup history.

“I’ve said all along he’s the best horse I’ve had in a long time,” Burke said. “Like, I ain’t switching with anybody, that’s for sure.”

As for Burke’s other Meadowlands Pace eligible colt, Papi’s Rocket, he’s being aimed for the Messenger elims at Yonkers Raceway next weekend.

Even though Sippinonsearoc lost the opportunity to race in the Cup final, Burke said he wouldn’t consider supplementing him to the Pace because he already has one of his own in the race.

To supplement to The Meadowlands Pace, one must write a check for approximately $70,000.

“Now you’re spending money to race against yourself,” Burke said.

Burke Racing Stable LLC and Weaver Bruscemi LLC share ownership in Louprint with Phillip Collura and Lawrence Karr, and in Sippinonsearoc with R A S Racing LLC and Knox Services Inc.

With so many good male sophomore pacers, Burke has a good handle on who he’d like to send where, even for a race like the Little Brown Jug, that’s still several months away.

“Because of Kentucky, the biggest question will be will I race Louprint on Sunday at Kentucky and then back Thursday at the Jug,” Burke said. “Everybody says you can’t do it. You can do it, you’ve just got to have the f – – – ing guts to try it.

“If he comes out of it alright on Sunday, I don’t have to make the decision until Monday.

“The Jug is the Jug. For other people, it may not mean as much, but for me, who’s won it and grew up close to it, it’s pretty special to win. I can’t see leaving our best horse at home if he’s all right.”