Karl Burke craving more Ascot glory, 10 years on from when it all begun
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sat 13 Jun 2026
On the 10th anniversary of celebrating his very first Royal Ascot success, trainer Karl Burke will next week make the annual pilgrimage south with perhaps his strongest ever team of equine firepower behind him.
It is fair to say there have been peaks and troughs over the course of the 63-year-old’s training career so far, with a Group One breakthrough with Lord Shanakill in the 2009 Prix Jean Prat swiftly followed by a 12-month ban that threatened to derail the Burke train for good.
But with wife Elaine and daughters Kelly and Lucy by his side, the master of Spigot Lodge has not only recovered from that major blow but flourished, building an empire in this quiet corner of North Yorkshire that has seen him send out more than 100 winners in each of the past five seasons and firmly establish himself among the sport’s elite.
You would not know it with temperatures struggling to reach double figures and the rain pouring down on a gloomy Wensleydale morning, but Burke’s latest raid on the summer showpiece meeting is only a few days away and as we discussed his quality squad bound for Berkshire, the trainer himself admitted his burgeoning yard is now competing at a level beyond what even he thought was possible.
“I never thought we could get this big and never planned for it and never really wanted it, but we’re getting so many nice horses from the bigger owners and well-bred horses and they’re hard to turn down,” he explained.
“We’ve got great staff and we can’t do it without them – you can’t train numbers of horses without good people and we try and look after them really well and thankfully it’s working.”
One of the first horses to propel Burke back to the big time after his return to the training ranks was Quiet Reflection, the superstar filly who provided him that elusive first Royal Ascot success as hot favourite for the 2016 Commonwealth Cup.
The daughter of Showcasing is one of many diamonds in the rough sourced by the Rugby-born trainer over the years, with this particular £44,000 purchase going on to double her top-level tally in the Sprint Cup at Haydock before being sold for broodmare purposes for 2.1million guineas.
Quiet Reflection and Dougie Costello after winning the 2016 Commonwealth Cup (David Davies/PA)
That major investment would prove a shrewd one by the Coolmore partners, with Quiet Reflection subsequently producing a four-time Group One and Classic-winning filly in Lake Victoria.
When asked whether that Commonwealth Cup triumph felt like a decade ago, Burke said: “It does seem a while ago actually when you look back, I wouldn’t have said it was 10 years though.
“Expectations were high and I definitely felt the pressure there! I remember being on TV in the morning with Ralph Beckett, I was pretty nervous and just wanted everything to go right. She was a very good filly though.”
Winding the clock forward, Burke has now trained eight Royal Ascot winners and has only once left empty handed since 2020.
Six of those victories have been provided by two-year-olds, a division in which Burke has become the country’s pre-eminent trainer in recent years.
“It’s just the way it’s gone really, to be honest,” he continued.
“Some of those good two-year-olds have turned into good three-year-olds and we’ve had plenty of older horses running well and winning well. Al Qareem has been a star of a horse at a good level and Convergent is a staying horse who is doing the business as well.
“I love the two-year-olds and love buying yearlings, but obviously you hope those good two-year-olds become good three-year-olds and some of them have. Inevitably some fall by the wayside or you have to sell a few, but then you restock and go again.
“You don’t want to be pigeonholed but I do love training two-year-olds. We’ve been the leading two-year-old trainer for the last four years I think and we’re ahead again as we speak, so it’s great.”
Ahead of this year’s Royal meeting, Burke looks strong across the board.
Wild Blossom at Karl Burke’s yard on Thursday (Ashley Iveson/PA)
The Queen Mary-bound pair of Wild Blossom and Love A Giggle, Albany Stakes hope Light Of Dawn, Coventry or Norfolk Stakes contender Ruler’s Pride and the Chesham-bound Revels give him a formidable hand in the juvenile races, while star filly Venetian Sun looks set to go to post as favourite to follow in Quiet Reflection’s hoofprints the Commonwealth Cup.
Add to that Britain’s leading King Charles III Stakes hope Night Raider, King Edward VII Stakes runner Golden Story, the unbeaten pair of Ravenspire (Queen’s Vase) and I’ll Be Back (Jersey Stakes), as well a clutch of quality handicappers, and it is easy to see why Burke has high expectations that he is doing his best to temper.
“Obviously I’ll be disappointed if we don’t have a winner, but I’ve been down before thinking you’ve got a great chance with four or five horses and it doesn’t happen,” he continued.
“It is disappointing, but I think you have to accept it as it’s so tough down there. I remember going down a few years ago when Elite Status was favourite for the Norfolk (in 2023) and I felt we had four or five really good chances, but Elite Status finished third and we didn’t have a winner, which was a bit demoralising – but that’s Ascot.
Trainer Karl Burke at Royal Ascot (John Walton/PA)
“If we can get one winner it would be great and anything over that will be fantastic. Having said that we have got four or five real good chances I think, but then there will be four or five other people in those races who think they’ve got one with a good chance as well.
“It’s an amazing meeting and it’s so important because it’s on the world stage. I think as far as publicity goes it probably is the biggest week of the year because all the major racing jurisdictions are invested in it and watching it.
“I remember when Quiet Reflection won we got a huge amount of press ahead of that and new owners and interest after it. One winner at Royal Ascot counts for 20 other winners really.”
And so comes the question every punter is desperate for you to answer but every trainer dreads – what does Burke consider his best chance of the week?
“I think on all known form Venetian Sun stands out, especially after the way she won the Sandy Lane at Haydock last time. You’d hate to be drawn on the wing or certainly drawn one anyway, but she has the ability to overcome those type of things and if she gets any luck at all she should be bang there,” he replied.
“We go there with a couple of very good chances in the two-year-old races and if Night Raider puts his best foot forward he should run a big race. Even the ones in the handicaps – Holloway Boy is a Group horse in a handicap (in the Royal Hunt Cup) and he loves Ascot as well, so you’re going there with fighting chances.”
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