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Fan Guide


Blair Burgess

Full name: Blair R. Burgess
Born: 09/27/1961
Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario
Residence: Campbellville, Ontario
Height: 5-foot-8
Colors: Green-Blue-White
Career & Personal Highlights Multimedia
Photos taken by award winning USTA photographers are available for purchase in our online store.

Burgess in the News
• Six to enter Harness Racing Hall of Fame; pair to Communicators Hall
• Karin Olsson-Burgess wins January Davies Humanitarian Award from USHWA
• Xtreme Horse Power to feature an under-saddle trot
• Blue Porsche stays perfect in Goodtimes
• Interest in Blue Porsche sold
• Burgess talks about his Valley Victory quartet
• Passmaster Hanover could continue trend for Burgess
• Tell All prevails in a thrilling Little Brown Jug finish


Career

Burgess reached the million-dollar mark for the ninth time in his career in 2010…Blue Porsche was the stable’s star, winning the Valley Victory and divisions of the Bluegrass and Champlain stakes on his way to receiving the O’Brien Award as Canada’s best 2-year-old colt trotter…Burgess started out as a part-time groom when he was 11, working before and after school and during the summer holidays…Went on to work for Stew Firlotte, Gary Bourgon and Paul Radley…Got the attention of the harness racing world in 1986 with his handling of Amity Chef, who earned $1,244,481 and was named 3-year-old Pacing Colt of the Year…Also conditioned one of 1987’s top 3-year-old pacers in Frugal Gourmet, who banked $1,283,348 and won the Meadowlands Pace…Frugal Gourmet’s success led to Burgess being named as the Canadian Trotting Association’s Trainer of the Year in 1987…Back in the headlines with Real Desire, who was named 2002 Horse of the Year in both the Dan Patch Awards balloting and the O’Brien Awards…Real Desire ended his brilliant career with earnings of $3,159,814, ranking him third among the richest pacers in the history of the sport…The leading horse in the Burgess Stable in 2003 was Hambletonian champion Amigo Hall, also an O’Brien Award winner as the top 3-year-old trotting colt in Canada…Trained another outstanding trotter in 2006 in Glidemaster, who would become his second Horse of the Year…The Yankee Glide lad set a then-single-season earnings record for trotters when he banked $1,918,701 and became the sport’s eighth Trotting Triple Crown winner…Top horse in the Burgess Stable in 2007 was the 3-year-old pacing colt Tell All, who was named Pacer of the Year in the United States and shared Horse of the Year honors in Canada…Burgess was awarded the 2007 O’Brien Award as Trainer of the Year.
Personal

Blair’s favorite food is a good steak…his first car was an old pickup that his parents let him drive…favorite pet is a blond Labrador Retriever named Teemu…favorite TV shows are “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Californication”…likes to visit art galleries and museums…loves watching his daughters compete in horse shows, golf and soccer…greatest racing moment was winning the 2006 Hambo with Glidemaster…putting food on the table keeps him motivated. 		 
Career Training Statistics & Dan Patch Award Winners
Year Starts 1sts Rank 2nds 3rds UTR Money Won Rank
2023 77 11 12 5 .251 64,828
2022 173 19 25 20 .229 178,172
2021 104 10 17 11 .222 119,921
2020 72 4 2 7 .103 45,140
2019 78 8 11 12 .232 125,235
2018 94 13 9 13 .238 99,525
2017 109 10 13 5 .173 109,129
2016 68 11 7 9 .263 82,262
2015 150 15 11 14 .172 144,221
2014 249 31 20 25 .203 230,107
2013 297 31 27 27 .185 445,990
2012 406 48 40 52 .216 543,163
2011 318 46 28 37 .232 1,285,581
2010 362 63 43 45 .281 1,325,378
2009 220 34 30 23 .265 1,036,335
2008 262 37 27 30 .237 869,777
2007 230 36 12 39 .242 1,803,241
2006 180 19 28 24 .236 2,964,518 (10)
2005 256 35 24 27 .224 506,457
2004 264 32 27 30 .216 441,346
2003 225 42 23 24 .279 1,569,175 (24)
2002 235 45 36 23 .309 1,545,366
2001 236 42 46 33 .333 2,115,824 (23)
2000 300 47 41 44 .281 1,199,736
1999 392 72 50 61 .306 1,152,494
1998 294 40 43 35 .257 547,806
1997 302 41 46 36 .260 969,850
1996 234 33 23 37 .248 652,519
1995 205 27 24 25 .237 408,096
1994 163 31 24 18 .309 568,464
1993 114 18 12 16 .263 278,574
1992 209 23 24 25 .214 643,040
1991 16 1 2 2 .174 41,846
6894 975 807 834 .000 24,113,116
 

DAN PATCH AWARD WINNERS

3-YEAR-OLD COLT PACE
(86) Amity Chef
(07) Tell All

3-YEAR-OLD COLT TROT
(06) Glidemaster

PACING HORSE
(02) Real Desire

PACER OF THE YEAR
(02) Real Desire
(07) Tell All

TROTTER OF THE YEAR
(06) Glidemaster

HORSE OF THE YEAR
(02) Real Desire
(06) Glidemaster