Feb 13, 2024 By John Sacco 4 min read

The richest 2-year-old male trotter in history has been named an O’Brien Award winner for his efforts in the 2023 campaign.

TCI, trained by Ron Burke, Canonsburg, was honored Saturday by Standardbred Canada at a Black-Tie Gala in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

Established in 1989, the O’Brien Awards honor the people and horses that made the greatest contribution to Canadian harness racing over the past season.

The freshman trotter enjoyed a tremendous debut season, earning more money on Canadian soil than any other Standardbred in the sport.

TCI, owned by the Burke Racing Stable LLC, Fredericktown, Pa.; Hatfield Stables, Columbus, Ohio,; Knox Services Inc., Mt. Vernon, Ohio; and Weaver Bruscemi LLC, Canonsburg, won 10 consecutive races heading into the Breeders Crown finals.

He is the richest 2-year-old male trotter in history, with more than $1 million in earnings, besting the previous mark of $936,191 held by Deweycheatumnhowe.

With 10 victories and two runner-up finishes in 12 starts, he amassed a total of $1,453,370 in North American earnings, while taking his mark of 1:51.4 at The Red Mile.

“He’s the best trotter I’ve sat behind,” Burke said. He learns quicker than any horse I’ve ever seen.”

TCI won his three races in Canada, including victories at Mohawk in the $620,000 William Wellwood Memorial and the $1 million Mohawk Million, where he broke leaving the gate then circled the field to win decisively.

In memoriam:

Sadly, double-gaited Lord of Winterfell – owned by Jeff Weaver of Indianapolis and trained and stabled by Norm Parker was humanely euthanized last week after suffering a rare Cannon bone break.

“It’s very tragic,” Parker said. “It was just a freak thing. He was training a trip and took a bad step. In my 45 years of training I never had a horse break a Cannon bone.”

Parker took the horse to Ohio State University for surgery, which was completed, but the injury was too bad to ultimately be successful.

Lord of Winterfell, 11-years-old, was known as “Tony” in his barn and by his connections.

A veteran pacer, Lord of Winterfell was converted to a trotter, and earned his first career win in early December.

While double-gaited performers were always rare, they became fewer and farther between in recent years, making Lord of Winterfell the first horse in well more than a decade to win races on both gaits at The Meadows in the same season.

As a pacer, he won 32 of 215 lifetime races with 29 seconds and 28 thirds. He earned $315,426 as a pacer. As a trotter, Lord of Winterfell won one of six races with two third place finishes and earnings of $8,066.

His last win was Dec. 7 at The Meadows with Christopher Lems driving. His final race was Dec. 28, a third-place finish.

Queen of the track:

The Gypsy Queen IR won her fourth race of 2024 Wednesday afternoon and seventh in a row, in a mare featured race.

The Gypsy Queen IR, trained by Mickey Burke, Jr., left from post six in a Starter Allowance for mares.

An Irish-bred daughter of Foreclosure N, the mare started her win streak Nov. 9 for the Burke Stable, Fredericktown. She was claimed by the Brandon Presto Stable out of a $15,000 claimer, won two straight, then was claimed back for $20,000 by the Burke Stable. Gypsy Queen has won three more times since rejoining the stable.

She is 21 for 52 in her career.

Strong start:

Trainer Justin Lloyd, who made several appearances at The Meadows last year, after shipping from Hoosier Park, is off to a strong start in 2024. In his first 20 training starts, he netted eight wins and seven third place finishes, with a Universal Trainer Rating (UTR) of .517. Lloyd has six horses entered at The Meadows Wednesday and Thursday, combined.

Lucky 5?:

As has been the case in most recent seasons, post position No. 5 is still the place to be. In 2023 at The Meadows, a total of 388 winners left from post 5, a 17.6 winning percentage. Post 4 was next, at 14.1 percent, while posts 1 and 3 tied for third at 13.3 percent.

NOTE: The Meadows’ track announcer, Jeff Zidek, contributed to this story.