Northern jump jockey John Burke – not to be confused with the jockey of the same name who won the 1976 Grand National on Rag Trade – was born on January 30, 1970. He will always be associated with Sue Bramall’s good chaser Antonin.
John had ridden Antonin once over hurdles, finishing unplaced at Kelso They first teamed up over fences when finishing second in an Ayr novices’ chase in January 1993. They won next time out at Edinburgh in February and then finished second to Viking Flagship at Leicester before resuming winning ways at Huntingdon on March 17, the second leg of a double for John and Mrs Bramall that day, for they had won the previous race with novice hurdler Veleda II. A fortnight later, on the last day of March, John rode Antonin to victory in the valuable Golden Eagle Novices’ Chase at Ascot.
Having ridden ten winners that season, John increased his score to 17 for the 1993/94 season, highlighted by Antonin’s three wins in the Ladbrokes Gold Cup Chase at Newbury on New Year’s Day 1994, Kempton’s Racing Post Chase at the end of February, and the Ritz Club Handicap Chase (be at Cheltenham in March. They then finished second in the Whitbread Gold Cup, beaten two and a half lengths by Charlie Swan on Ushers Island.
Having risen in the handicap ratings, Antonin failed to win during the 1994/95 campaign, his best performances coming when third in the Racing Post Chase, second to Rough Quest in the Ritz Club, and seventh in Irish Grand National. John rode a total of eight winners that season. The following season he rode Antonin in the 1996 Grand National finishing in a creditable eighth place behind Rough Quest.
He continued to ride for Sue Bramall but his winning tallies dwindled to three in 95/96 and four in both 96/97 and 97/98. Having lost the ride on Antonin, he eventually rode him one final time in what proved to be Antonin’s penultimate start under rules, on March 6, 1998, trailing home well beaten at Kelso, where their association had begun.
